Those Who Like to Plot
by ponster
Summary: "What's a cute Gryffindor like yourself doing defending a slime ball Slytherin like him?" Severus Snape befriends a young Gryffindor that helps him while he is being bullied by the Marauders, initiating an unlikely friendship between the two. Upon hearing about Severus' problems, she decides to help him win the girl of his dreams and bring down James Potter and his friends. Sev/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Gemini Volkov was not one to simply sit back and watch another being tortured, although she felt that she had been doing that a lot lately. She watched from behind the bushes as she noticed the so-called Marauders approaching Severus. The problem before her first came to her attention when they were in the Great Hall, the day her 5th school year at Hogwarts ended. The girls around her raised their heads to watch Sirius Black walk right past them to his seat, but instead of doing so, he stopped to encourage James Potter to take the book Severus Snape was reading. After thinking about what she had seen for about a week or so, she realized what was going on.

Severus was being bullied by the "popular" boys at school. The boy looked like someone who would know how to defend himself, with his extremely long legs and shoulder-length black hair that made him look slightly threatening, but apparently, he had a little bit of trouble. Or a lot of trouble, Gemini would have thought if she was being honest with herself. She felt guilty for not having noticed this already, even when James would take Severus' things right in front of her nose. She thought they were just messing around! Once she got over her epiphany, she reminded herself daily that she was going to help Severus when school started again.

And here she was, two and a half months later, watching Severus like a hawk while waiting for the Marauders to show up. She glared at James Potter, watching him turn the helpless wizard upside down and leaving him hanging in midair. She stood up from behind the bush and approached the group with an angry march.

"Stop bothering him, James." Gemini pulled her wand out and pointed it at the smirking wizard. James simply looked at her and chuckled softly before looking back at his victim.

"What's a cute Gryffindor like yourself doing defending a slime ball Slytherin like him?" Sirius poked Gemini's back, causing her to flinch before she scrunched her nose and glared at him.

"What's a 'kind-hearted, brave and all the other things a Gryffindor is supposed to be' like yourself doing bullying a guy who has done nothing to you?" Gemini stood on her toes, trying to make herself more intimidating, but she only earned a pat on the head from Sirius.

"He's done plenty of things!" Remus spoke up from behind Sirius, but didn't care to name any. Gemini shook her head and turned her attention back to James.

"Levicorpus!" Gemini gave her a wand a sharp flick, sending James flying just like he had done to Severus, causing him to drop his wand in the process. She hadn't completely thought her plan through, and Severus fell right on her. She was awfully small for her age (5'1") and felt almost crushed under his weight until he lifted himself with his elbows, giving her lungs enough space to breathe.

Severus had a confused look on his face as he stared down at her and she could see this well. He had noticed her in class once or twice when she accidentally hit him in the face with her waist-length wavy, pitch-black hair, but that was it. The only thing he knew about her was her name and who she was, so he was curious on why she was trying to help him.

Severus was rolled off of Gemini by an annoyed-looking Sirius, helping the young girl up and shaking his head at her while Peter Pettigrew laughed in the background.

"You shouldn't mess with us, little girl." Peter stated when he was done laughing.

Gemini looked to her side to make sure Severus was standing already before she gave her wand another flick, making James fall from the sky and land right on his crew.

Gemini took Severus' hand quickly and started running, dragging him along with her. Severus seemed to have caught on, realizing that they would both be in huge trouble if they were caught by the Marauders with an angry leader.

"Get them!" James roared, getting up and stumbling towards the runaways, but finally adjusting to walking again and then running quickly. His friends did the same and raced right behind James, who was not much further ahead than they were.

The two ran for their lives, pushing past a lot of students and making them drop a toad, a heavy book and glass of orange juice along the way. It wasn't exactly the nicest way to get away from the others, but it was definitely the safest. At least the orange juice spill and girls trying to pick up their books would slow them down a little; hopefully the toad would get in their way as well.

Gemini could feel herself almost falling, since her short legs weren't used to running, but soon Severus was taking the lead. She followed him for a few seconds longer until she spotted a statue that was wide and tall enough to hide them both. She picked up speed as she looked back to make sure James wasn't around the corner yet and pulled Severus behind the statue, gasping for air.

"What are—" Severus started, but stopped when Gemini pressed her finger against his lips. She looked down and took quiet breaths, waiting to see if she could hear the Marauders nearby. She heard them pass them and then finally pulled her finger away, soon realizing that she had been holding Severus' hand the whole time.

"Sorry." She whispered, pulling her hand away and looking up anxiously at the other.

"What are you doing? Do you realized you have just bought yourself a one-way ticket to being bullied for the rest of your life at Hogwarts?" Severus was making hand gestures now, which made Gemini giggle. She felt he was exaggerating a bit.

"I'm not scared of them." Gemini shrugged. "Besides, there's not that much time left."

"You won't think so when you find your things missing and people spitting in your food." The tall boy crossed his arms, frowning.

"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank' and 'you'." Gemini raised an eyebrow, smirking at the other.

"I—thank you." Severus was going to go on with his long explanation on why she had made the biggest mistake of her life, but she was obviously not going to listen. Besides, she didn't look like she needed much advice now.

"No problem." Before Severus could ask her anything else, she began walking away and Severus was not going to make any attempt to go after her. If she really wanted to keep talking to someone as boring as he was, she would have.

* * *

A few days after the incident, things seemed to be getting better, at least by a little bit. James avoided him like a plague, and only played simple tricks on him, those that wouldn't scare a fly. This was primarily because he was only bullied in secret now, because James didn't want Gemini to mention that she had already beat him once. Severus truly thanked Gemini from the bottom of his heart.

He had noticed her a lot more now, and had made a few failed attempts to talk to her again, but decided against it later on. It's not like he had anything else to say.

Severus almost found himself laughing when he was forced to talk to her anyway.

Upon arriving to potions class on a sunny Friday morning, Severus found that James Potter had taken his spot next to his ex-best friend and crush, Lily Evans. Although it had been 1 year since he and Lily stopped speaking, he always sat next to her. She ignored him completely, but he felt better just being by her side.

Severus looked around for another seat. Either he sat next to Sirius Black or next to Gemini Volkov. His choice was obvious and he set off to sit next to his heroine.

Gemini smiled at him and looked back down at her book, not saying anything at all. Severus didn't take it very harshly and he did the same, opening his book and reading the instructions for the day.

"Today you will be making a love potion." Professor Slughorn started up, causing a few hands to go up. "Yes, Ms. Prewett." He pointed at the young lady with fiery-red hair.

"Isn't that potion a little dangerous?" She asked, her nose scrunching up slightly. Arthur Weasley, who was seated right next to her, raised his hand and spoke without being asked. "I agree with her."

"I thought it would be an interesting item to start the year off with." Professor Slughorn chuckled. "Besides, you won't be taking it anywhere out of this classroom; I will be making sure of that." A few girls frowned and Gemini giggled. She didn't understand why girls were so obsessed with giving guys love potions. It was a disturbing thought! "Also," Professor Slughorn began again, snapping Gemini out of her thoughts. "You will be working with the person right next to you to create it. I just want to make sure I don't have too many love potions to take care of. You have one hour and you may begin!"

Severus went to gather the ingredients while Gemini waited and read the instructions a second time. She was a little of an overachiever and wanted to make sure that they did everything just right.

The two got to work right away and didn't really talk very much. It was a little boring, but Severus was glad that his head wasn't being clouded up with small talk. Gemini didn't seem like she was much of a small talk person either, since she seemed to like to get right to the point.

When they were finished, Severus was glad. The silence was beginning to get a little awkward. He called Professor Slughorn to come check on the potion and looked back to see that Gemini had left already. The professor approved their potion and Severus quickly picked up his books so he could catch up with Gemini.

He could still see her when he walked out of the classroom, and he began walking quickly. He then remembered they weren't friends yet. He shook his head and continued walking, but quite slowly. He was curious on where she was going, since she left from the room so quickly that he hadn't even noticed her.

They went around many corners, walked up many stairs and pushed past several doors. Severus was beginning to get tired when he noticed they were at their destination. He pushed the door quietly and noticed that he was at the entrance of a decent-sized balcony. Gemini was sitting on the floor, making her lunch appear before her. Why hadn't he thought of doing so instead of going to the Great Hall every day for lunch?

He watched her for a little longer until he heard her speak.

"Severus, would you care to join me?"

"I—how did you know I was here?" Severus mumbled softly, walking outside.

"How could I not?" Gemini turned to him with a grin. "You're extremely tall and surprisingly noisy when you walk." She didn't dare mention that it was just his robe fluttering as he followed her.

"Well…" Severus scoffed, sitting down next to her and crossing his legs, pulling out a book from under his arm and opening it. Gemini eyeballed him for a moment and then looked down at her food.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Severus shook his head, staring at the text in concentration. He bit his lip slightly, and Gemini wasn't sure he was breathing. She poked his shoulder, and he didn't look up, but he took a deep breath to indicate he was alive. The young witch found herself bored with the lack of conversation and decided she would start with a rather spicy topic.

"Tell me about what happened with you and Lily Evans." Gemini stretched like a cat before picking up some food from her plate.

In that moment, Severus dropped his book. Gemini acted so casual, as if this was a matter to be discussing with a total stranger and it angered him. He closed his book, setting it on the ground before he took a deep breath. She had been nice to him; he couldn't exactly scare her away like he would have if she was any other person.

"I called her a mudblood." Severus heard himself saying. He wasn't actually planning on telling her what happened, but it just sort of came out that way.

"Ah…" Gemini shrugged. She personally didn't think it was a big deal, but she couldn't imagine what it would have sounded like to someone who truly cared about what people had to say. "You love her, right?"

Severus couldn't hold back a nod and Gemini acknowledged his answer by nodding back at him. Gemini already knew it. She was very observant and noticed how he looked at her. They talked very much, but stopped talking at random. Her curiosity was eating her up, but she was glad she knew about it now.

"I'll help you with her!" Gemini put a finger on Severus' chin, tilting his head so he was facing her.

"You'll what?"

"I'll help you with her!" Gemini repeated just as enthusiastically as she had said it before.

"No! There's no way I'm letting a stranger meddle with my love life." Severus pressed his lips together, shaking his head quickly.

"Love life? You mean sitting next to her and watching her completely ignore you every day?" The shorter of the two snorted, trying to not laugh out loud.

Severus frowned, but he couldn't say she was wrong. That was basically what he was doing. Perhaps he could use a little help, although he had some doubts about her. She was a weird girl and didn't seem to have any friends. Perhaps there was a reason for her loneliness. Then again, Severus didn't have any friends either, so he couldn't just assume.

"I guess you're right…" Severus chewed on his lip nervously and looking down at his lap, his jet-black hair falling down to his face.

"So will you let me or not?" Gemini put her hand out. "I'll help you and you'll accompany me during lunch in return."

"That sounds like a cheap way to make a friend."

"It is."

"Fair enough." Severus nodded and shook her hand, immediately regretting it.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello, people in the fandom that I have yet to explore! I really don't have much to say other than "this is my first Harry Potter fanfic" but you could probably tell by the first sentence of this message, right? Skipping the awkward introductions, I will just go ahead and also mention that I haven't written in a while, so I may be a little rusty. Despite my lack of self-confidence in this fic, I am posting it and hoping to get some support. c: Thank you and have a nice day!


	2. Chapter 2

Stepping into her charms classroom, Gemini found her eyes narrowing at Severus Snape, the boy that was currently trying to discreetly steal a seat somewhat close to Lily Evans for the third time that week. She wouldn't have been bothered by it if she hadn't already told Severus that in order to win Lily's heart, he would have to change his usual behavior to spark her interest. He didn't seem to be able to focus on the prize and was blinded by what he saw when he walked into class; the red-headed beauty that he had once called his best friend.

"Would you excuse us for a moment?" Gemini said to Lily with wide eyes, trying to get her to notice that Severus was with another girl. Lily had a blank stare and simply nodded. Gemini pulled Severus away by his collar, dragging him all the way to the back of the class.

"What are you doing?!" Gemini pulled Severus' books from his arms, slamming them on his new seat.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to get her to notice me…" Severus mumbled under his breath, his face almost reddening from the embarrassment, realizing he had probably done something stupid, according to the short girl in front of him, at least.

"If that was going to work, you'd have seen the difference about a year ago," Gemini rolled her eyes and took a seat, "You need a new plan. Said plan being an attempt to make her jealous. Girls can be vicious creatures, you see. When they have something, they get bored of it; when they don't, they'll do anything in their power to get it."

Severus gave her a bewildered look, urging her to keep going using his eyes.

"If she sees you're with another cute girl, she'll want you." Gemini whispered as the idle conversations surrounding the two quieted down.

"You're considered cute?" Severus snorted softly, shaking his head in obvious disagreement.

"Cuter than you deserve, at least." Gemini retorted, a smirk playing on her lips. Severus made a face at her and sat down correctly in his seat, looking to the front to see Professor Flitwick, which was awfully difficult.

Class was painfully long, and it didn't help that Severus was failing at the water-making spell they were learning. He had heard it wasn't very difficult, but he had just gotten very interested in spells and was not yet determined enough to do his very best. He glanced at the girl sitting next to him, who was waving her wand and performing the charm perfectly. She stopped herself after gaining a nod from her professor so she wouldn't make too much of a mess, although it was a little late for that. The classroom was sopping wet.

"How did you do that?" asked a frustrated Severus. He had only managed to get a few drops of water out of his wand, not enough to pass the assignment.

"She's really good at everything! I've noticed." Sirius spoke up from one seat away, smiling while setting down his wand with a grin. Gemini simply turned away and rolled her eyes.

"Why is it that you have gathered this random interest in always eavesdropping on our conversations and constantly complimenting me? You haven't spoken to me in the five years we've been in the same house and class."

The girl next to Severus was blushing slightly, which was making him rather amused.

"It's not my fault you were always so silent." Sirius shrugged. "I do, however, have to acknowledge that I noticed how cute you were before. I just thought you'd be boring to talk to since I never saw you anywhere."

"Did you ever notice how cute I was, Mr. Black?" Professor Flitwick stood in front of Sirius, crossing his arms, "You can flirt with Ms. Volkov after you've completed your assignment."

Sirius quickly picked up his wand, trying to avoid gaining more attention from his peers. He did notice a few girls glaring at Gemini, but he decided she could probably take care of herself.

"Volkov? I knew it had to be you!" Severus chuckled softly. He did know Gemini's name, but not her last name. He had a hunch on what it was, but he was still unsure and wanted to make sure before he actually used it.

"You speak kind of funny," Severus mumbled, imitating Gemini's slight Russian accent and sounding silly with his strong British one.

"I might, but that makes me original," Gemini glared at him and frowned. She loved her subtle Russian accent, but hated to be teased for it, which was one of the reasons she usually avoided talking at all costs.

"How modest," Severus replied sarcastically, picking up his things since it was almost time for class to end.

* * *

"So tell me about yourself." Severus shut his book closed after finally finishing the last chapter. He hadn't been talking very much the past few days because of it, so he thought it would be a nice time to start to actually get to know the other. He only knew she was Russian, a Gryffindor, great at charms and terrible at potions. He hadn't gotten much information after that.

"I didn't think we'd actually ever get to know each other," Gemini snickered, taking a bite out of her sandwich, "I don't have much to say."

"Oh, come on," Severus eyed her in disbelief, "You always have a comeback for everything. There has to be a reason for that."

"There really isn't," Gemini raised her head and looked up at the sky, trying to think of the reason why she was the way she was, "I was born in a small city, which was very strict, so everyone was rather uninteresting to talk to. When I moved to London, I went to a muggle private school…" She trailed off, wondering if that was all there really was to her.

"Why so?" Severus tilted his head with curiosity.

"My father wanted me to learn to speak English and my mother wanted me to get proper schooling," Gemini laughed at the thought of her mother. Muggles had crazy ideas on what proper schooling was.

"I see," Severus nodded, "And that accent of yours…it's not fully Russian, is it?" He hadn't met many Russians, just briefly encountered a few tourists, but he was sure that Gemini spoke too differently from them.

"I'm surprised you noticed," Gemini's eyes widened slightly, "I'm Russian and Romanian. I mostly grew up speaking Russian, but I also speak Romanian."

"That's impressive," Severus smiled, making Gemini look twice. In the past few days, she had seen him smile a lot, but they were normally pretty sarcastic smiles. This was the first true one she had seen and it made her feel a little uneasy.

"I suppose you could say that," Gemini's face flushed as she lowered her head and bit into her sandwich, attempting to make her long hair cover her face. She wasn't moved by what she had seen, she just felt nervous. She didn't think she could actually make someone like Severus Snape smile like that, or anyone, really.

There was silence that lasted longer than it should have. It was almost uncomfortable, but the wind made it feel a little better, almost relaxing in the most irritating way possible. Gemini felt herself getting sleepy and eventually forgot to open her eyes after blinking.

* * *

_It was surreal, the feeling. The pit of her stomach was twisting and turning, and there was only darkness. She felt a heavy knot in her throat and her tongue was dry. It was almost like being sick, but it was way more than that. She felt fear, which rarely happened to her. She wanted to say something, to ask for help, but no matter how hard she tried, it never happened. The words were stuck in her mind and had no way out of her lips._

_She finally raised her head, clutching her stomach in her arms as she tried to look for something, anything. The darkness was too much and it made her feel suffocated and tired._

_Then, there was a noise. It almost sounded like leaves rustling the wind, but it was too quiet for that. She tried to follow the noise, and it kept getting louder and louder as she moved herself across the floor. She still couldn't distinguish what it was, but then felt her knees wet. She looked up and still didn't see anything._

_It took a few tries and a few more drags across the floor until she found out what it was. It was a waterfall. It was definitely there. She was sitting right under it; she knew it. She looked up and didn't see it, but felt the water falling on her face and the chills that came along with it. She opened her mouth and tasted the water; it was earthy and almost sweet. She sat under it for a while until she wondered why this was happening._

_"What are you?" She yelled, hearing an echo that was partly muffled by the roaring of the waterfall._

_There was no response._

_"What do you want from me?" she asked, hoping to get an answer._

_"I have something for you."_

_There was a whisper right next to her ear. She didn't feel someone blowing into her ear, but it was right there. Whoever that was._

_"What is it?"_

_"You have to come get it."_

_"What?" She turned to her side, trying to see a face but it wasn't there. Whoever had been there was gone now. She sat under the water until she heard something in her ear again. This time, it wasn't the same voice. It was a dull snort. It kept repeating itself and it annoyed her._

* * *

Gemini opened her eyes felt something on her. It was a large robe, much too big to be Gemini's. She raised it up slightly and noticed that it was green inside. It was Severus'. She felt extremely cozy at the moment and didn't want to get up. She pulled it closer to herself and shut her eyes, feeling the distinct smell of mint that she had gotten used to being around. She then realized it was dark out.

She sat up completely, looking around. They had slept through the rest of their classes! Gemini looked around for Severus, but was surprised to see that he was right next to her. No wonder she felt so warm. The snort she had heard before was now coming from Severus's nose. He was the one that woke her up. It all made sense.

He looked so interesting while he was sleeping. He was peaceful, almost smiling. He seemed to have tried to turn into a ball, but was unsuccessful because of his extremely long legs. His face was paler than usual and Gemini frowned. He'd given her his robe and was left with nothing. Gemini pulled the robe off of herself and put it over the other, patting the top of it lightly as if to make it neater.

"Wake up!" She shoved him as soon as he was perfectly covered.

"OW!" Severus sat up slowly and glared, his sleepy eyes blinking repeatedly. "What?"

"We fell asleep and didn't wake up in time for the rest of our classes. And everyone is probably asleep already!" Gemini's eyes were wide. She was most definitely not in the mood to get in trouble that night.

"Ugh, why…" Severus pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead, "Whatever, let's just turn ourselves in. They can't get angry if it was an honest mistake."

"Are you kidding?" Gemini shook her head, "You're so weak. Let's try to get to bed unnoticed."

"Won't that look suspicious?"

"I guess—wait," Gemini's dream replayed in her mind and she knew that now was the chance to try to find what her gift was, "We need to find a waterfall."

"A waterfall?" Severus rolled his eyes, giving her an incredulous look, "So you're saying you want to sneak out of the castle and go find a random waterfall? Oh right! Gemini is great! She's really good at everything! She is so smart and beautiful and has the best ideas in the world!" he muttered sarcastically, briefly trying to imitate Sirius before he remembered that he hated him.

"Why are you being mean?" Gemini scrunched up her nose, almost wanting to slap Severus across the face, "Look, I had this dream. And someone told me there was something for me. I was at a waterfall, well it felt like one and sounded like one…it has to be a waterfall. Someone wants me to go there."

"Are you always this insane? You think I'm going to risk getting caught just so you can go to an unknown waterfall with an undisclosed location to get a gift from a stranger just because your dream told you to?"

"It sounds crazy, when you put it that way," Gemini frowned.

"How else am I supposed to put it?!"

"Are you coming or not?" Gemini stood up, dusting herself off and making her way to the balcony ledge.

"What are you—" He stopped talking when he saw her pulling her short legs over the ledge and holding on to her it with her small hands, "Stop, that's suicide!"

"No, it isn't," She stuck her tongue out at him, "We are only on the fourth floor. If I climb all the way down, I'll make it. I can just walk on. I'm sure I'll find it eventually."

"You really are a Gryffindor," Severus's nose wrinkled. He then approached the ledge himself and started climbing down with the other. He wasn't going to let her wander off by herself, even if it meant getting in trouble.

As they continued to climb down, they made it to the second floor. There was a balcony similar to the one they called their own, but this one was much wider.

"This one is nice, isn't it?" Gemini turned her attention to Severus.

"It would be nice if I could see it," Severus's knuckles were white from how much he was struggling to keep himself from falling.

"What are you two doing?" A voice coming from the balcony asked.

* * *

Author's Note: I finally got around to this. Guess who just found out the plot for the "adventure" part of this fic? Also, I will not be taking this long to update. I swear!


	3. Chapter 3

"Who is it?" Severus whispered near Gemini's ear, hoping that whoever was calling out for them wasn't going to discover who they were, although that person certainly had the advantage of not hanging off of a balcony.

"Just because I'm a couple years older than you doesn't mean that I can't hear what you're saying, Severus," Dumbledore's wrinkly hands were resting on the ledge of the balcony, smirking at the students.

"Are you sure it's not more than that, Headmaster?" Gemini asked seriously, "I could have sworn that you're over a 100."

"You certainly are your father's daughter," Dumbledore laughed, reaching for the hands of the female student to help her up, "Anton came up with that one many years ago," Gemini smiled at the older man and released the balcony with great care, boosting herself up with her toes until she was finally standing next to Dumbledore.

"What about me?!" Severus frowned, his hands starting to slip away.

"You're a big boy; you can help yourself," Dumbledore assured him, laughing heartily at the terrified expression on the face that usually lacked any sign of character, "I'm joking," Dumbledore wrapped his hands around Severus' wrists, knowing that the other wouldn't be easy to pull up. Severus shut his eyes the short way up, almost whining until his feet finally touched the floor.

"You were more scared than I thought you'd be," Gemini smirked at the boy, hoping her mild tease would get to him.

"Shut up, I'm heavier than you are."

"What did you just say to—"

"You two still haven't answered my question," Dumbledore cut Gemini off, crossing his arms and staring expectantly at the two.

"She made me do it!" Severus pointed at Gemini, feigning innocence, "Headmaster, this girl is a mastermind. She led me up to the balcony two floors above this one WITH A KNIFE," Severus' expressive eyes widened, "She said that if I didn't go with her to find some crazy waterfall somewhere, she'd stab me in the neck."

"Then why is it that I saw you willingly covering her with your robe and curling up next to her for a nap?" Dumbledore's voice sounded accusing, but his facial expression did not change.

"H-how did you—" Severus' was about to start stammering out a response, but Dumbledore stopped him.

"I'm Headmaster for a reason. I have to know what my students are doing at all times."

"I never doubted you," Gemini smiled sweetly at the Headmaster, holding his hand and looking up at him with sparkly eyes.

"Save your breath," Dumbledore chuckled, "I know what you were doing. Come with me."

* * *

"So tell me, what happened in this dream of yours?" Dumbledore asked from behind his desk, watching the female student with great concentration. He looked extremely worried, and that was starting to make Gemini feel a little nervous.

"There was nothing but darkness. I couldn't see anything. And I heard a waterfall. And felt it too. I wanted to know who was there and got no answer. Then a man's voice told me they had something for me and that I should go and get it," Gemini was glad she could remember her dreams fairly well, but for some reason wished that she could forget that one.

"Just as I feared," Dumbledore huffed under his breath, avoiding Gemini's eyes.

"What is it?" Severus urged the old man to speak.

"She's his next victim," Dumbledore mumbled.

"What?"

* * *

"Still, it doesn't make sense that he refused to give me more information. Just being careful isn't going to keep me alive, if I'm truly to be a victim soon," Gemini grumbled, walking up the stairs that led to her sleeping quarters.

"I think he's just doing what he thinks is best. Surely he has a plan under his sleeve," Severus tried to get Gemini to calm down. She seemed awfully shaken up, even if she seemed like something like that wouldn't scare her. He was worried for his new friend too, but he knew that no one could get information out of Dumbledore that easily.

"Well I don't care," Gemini put her hands on her hips, "I'm going to do whatever I can in my power to get to that waterfall."

"You really love looking for danger, don't you?" Severus rolled his eyes, "If Dumbledore says that you need to stay in the castle at all times, then you have to do so. There has to be a reason he said that."

"I'm not listening until he gives me that reason," Gemini crossed her arms again, standing in front of the door of the Gryffindor common room. The woman was sleeping and snoring, making Severus chuckle. "Well this is my stop," the young girl smiled at Severus, her voice making the fat lady wake up.

"It is much too late right now, what are you doing out?" The fat lady asked, but froze when she saw Severus, "And what is he doing here? He's not supposed to be out of bed either. Are you two causing trouble?"

"I was just leaving," Severus mumbled, hoping the fat lady would be quiet. It was one thing to get caught by Dumbledore, but it was another to get caught by a teacher roaming the halls. They would give the two of them detention in a heartbeat.

"Of course you're leaving, do you know what people think about a boy and a girl together late at night?" The painting flushed red, shaking her head with a disappointed look on her face, "It's indecent."

"It's not like that," Gemini shook her head, glancing at Severus and signaling him to go away.

"I'll see you later." Severus waved and began walking down the stairs.

The fat lady glanced behind Gemini, making sure that Severus couldn't hear anymore, "He looks rather sweet for a Slytherin," she spoke with a whisper, smiling. "Is that why you're cavorting with people outside of your house?"

"I don't really think that matters," Gemini shrugged her shoulders, "He's in love with Lily, from our house. If he can love a Gryffindor, I can most definitely be friends with a Slytherin."

"Oh, she's lovely," The fat lady nodded, "I'm not saying you can't, but it's a fairly odd sight to see. It's usually harder to keep in touch with people outside of your house."

"It's not all that difficult for me," Gemini shook her head with a smile. In fact, she seemed to be able to keep in contact better with Severus than with anyone else in her house, "Sphinx taffy."

The door opened and Gemini stepped inside, the door shutting closed behind her. She glanced back at it, shutting her eyes tightly. If only the door wasn't so loud when closing. She stepped in quietly, looking around and hoping that she didn't wake anyone up.

"Gem?" A sweet voice spoke up from the darkness. Gemini set her eyes on a dark figure that was easily distinguished, along with the fact that the girl was the only person who had a pet name for her at school, Molly.

"Hey," Gemini answered, freezing in her spot but feeling less nervous since the person before her was her friend.

She wasn't exactly close to her, but they talked sometimes. Gemini also liked sharing things with her, and Molly liked to ask for advice quite often. It was a friendship that wasn't too clingy, and it was very comfortable for the shorter of the two, which was the only reason she didn't get frustrated by the other calling her a pet name. They were friends, but not to the point that they were hanging off of each other's throats.

"You're just coming in right now," Molly approached her friend, looking at her suspiciously. She walked around Gemini several times before she stopped and tugged at the girl's robe. "Your robe is too big. That's what's different about you."

"Wait, what?" Gemini's eyes widened, looking down at her robe. It did seem extremely heavy to her. She was also dragging it, almost. How did she not notice that before? She had never been one to be focused after long naps, but that had to be the worst case.

Molly raised her wand and charmed it to light up, holding it in front of Gemini's robe. The short girl gasped and held the robe closer to her body, as if it would suddenly change, but Molly noticed, "That's a Slytherin robe. You're wearing a Slytherin robe. Who's is this?" She tried not to feel shocked, but there was no way to hide it. It was all in her eyes.

"I found it," Gemini shrugged, pulling it off her shoulders and swinging it over her forearm, "I was with the Headmaster earlier because of some super secret stuff he had to tell me, and I found it there. I must have left mine because I was so occupied with this one."

"Perhaps you should go return it," Molly suggested, "If it was with the Headmaster, then someone will probably be dropping by his office later to claim it."

"I'm too sleepy," Gemini stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes, "I'll do it tomorrow." The girl started walking towards the staircase that led to her dorm room, hoping that Molly had finished being curious.

"And Gem?" Molly's voice spoke up, approaching the other girl with a tiny smile on her face. "Why did I hear the voice of a boy outside the door a few minutes before you entered?" She seemed excited.

Molly Prewett talked about Arthur Weasley very often, even if he was a little different from the other boys. She enjoyed sharing several things she noticed about him with Gemini or places they liked to go, and even the times where he seemed to be trying to make her smile. It could be fun to go on and on, but she sometimes wished Gemini wasn't so quiet, or had more to tell; she just didn't seem to be having as much fun as she should have been.

"Your whispering is very loud," interrupted the smug voice of James Potter, who was sitting in the couch of the common room. How had they not noticed him? "I'm losing my concentration."

"Oh, concentration on what, exactly?" Gemini glared at the boy, mocking his tone of voice.

"We're making a map of the school," Sirius smiled at the girl, only to be hit on the head by James. Sirius glared and mouthed something to James, who only shook his head and laughed, looking back down at the piece of parchment before him.

"A map?" Gemini was suddenly interested, but she couldn't exactly look like she was. James would immediately find a difficult place to hide it, and Gemini was way too lazy to go through the trouble, "What a silly idea."

"Maybe it is right now, but we've been working on it for a while and it will be finished very soon!" Sirius was looking down at the parchment now, and was hit again by James.

"Can you stop talking about it?!" James looked frustrated. He knew Sirius was weak when certain girls talked to him, but he didn't think he would talk about something so private.

"Why? It's not like I'll tell them what it does and how to use it," Sirius shrugged, looking back at Gemini and smirking, "Unless you want me to tell you."

"Uh, no! This is top secret!" James exclaimed, folding up theparchment and putting it under his right arm.

"If it's so top secret, then why are you two working on it in the common room?" Molly tilted her head with curiosity.

" Because you two aren't supposed to be awake," James pointed, standing up to walk back to his bed, but something caught his eye, "Why do you have Snivellus' robe?" James pulled out his wand and began poking the robe, wondering if he was seeing things right.

"What are you talking about? This isn't his…" Gemini began walking away but was stopped by Sirius, who placed a hand on her shoulder and made her freeze.

"It smells like him," Sirius took a deep breath before making a disgusted face, "Why do you have this?"

"I don't—"

"Wait, this belongs to Severus?" Molly had suspected it already, but she didn't want to call her friend a liar. She didn't think the truth would come up so easily, so she tried to play dumb.

"Yeah, but—"

"You said it wasn't his," James crossed his arms.

"Just don't worry about it!" Gemini balled her hands into fists.

"Why wouldn't I?" James' lip curled as he examined the robe further, "That guy is after Lily, is he not? Maybe he's trying to lure her in by getting her familiar to the smell of sebum and dead plants?"

"So what if he is?" Gemini was beginning to get frustrated again. She didn't completely hate Potter, but times like the one before her made her wish he was dead, "It has nothing to do with you. Besides, Lily could learn to love the smell again. They were friends."

"I think perhaps it's time to get to bed," Sirius turned to James and gave him a subtle frown. He knew that whatever was about to be said wouldn't be much fun for the girls to hear, and so he decided it was best to get things over with.

James looked Gemini up and down one last time before he went to bed. Molly, who didn't want to confront her friend about the situation yet, gave Gemini a wave and left for bed as well.

"Gem," Sirius smiled mockingly at the girl next to him, who seemed to be thinking too much about the short exchange that had just occurred.

"Don't call me that," Gemini stuck her tongue out at Sirius, thankful that it was too dark for him to see her embarrassed expression.

"Right," Sirius chuckled softly, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Listen, do you want to watch some Quidditch with me tomorrow? Gryffindor is playing against Slytherin, as you may have heard already…" The boy didn't know what else to say, so he just waited for the response.

"Sorry, I really have to talk to Severus about something," She wouldn't dare mention that her mind was still on the map that James was making.

"You can talk to him some other time…" Sirius pouted, not wanting to have to urge her to go, "Besides, he probably wants to support his own house."

After thinking about it for a moment, Gemini realized that Sirius was probably right. Severus had his own friends in the Slytherin house and they probably just wanted to watch Quidditch together. She wasn't going to ruin whatever traditions Severus was involved in before they met.

"I guess you're right," Gemini nodded softly, looking up at the boy, "I'll go, but only if we can hang out afterwards as well," There were plans burning up inside her already and she couldn't wait.

"Really?"Sirius grinned, nodding quickly, "Okay, we can hang out afterwards."

"Cool," Gemini gave the boy a faint smile and walked towards her own bed. She was tired out and didn't feel like beating around the bush. She could feel Sirius smiling even behind her, and she felt like a bad person, but that map could be useful, if it did work.

She could only hope.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I'm enjoying this too much. *hugs story* I will probably be adding Snape's friends in the next chapter…which I will probably start writing right about now. These "author's notes" things must be very annoying since I don't say much. Okay...Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

"Where could that girl be?" Severus searched the crowds of young wizards preparing for the upcoming quidditch match. He was beginning to get awfully frustrated with her and her height, since she was so impossible to find. He presumed that she would go looking for him at the match, even if he wasn't much of a sports fanatic himself. He held onto her robe, trying hard to hide the colors before his friends decided to approach him.

"It's odd to see you here, Severus," Avery sucked in his right cheek, eyeballing the robe that Severus was holding, but not thinking much about it, "Why the sudden interest in a 'silly little ball game,' huh?" the boy teased, quoting Severus in a monotone voice.

"I have some business to take care of," Severus said plainly, clutching the robe a little closer and looking around some more to distract Avery, "Don't wait up, I'm going back to our common room after this."

Avery nodded, calling Mulciber over to accompany him to the Slytherin stands. Severus was thankful that the two never seemed very interested in matters that didn't have to do with spells or potions, otherwise it would have been more difficult to get them off his back.

"There you are," Gemini gently tapped the back of Severus' knee with the tip of her shoe, causing him to lose his balance and collapse. She giggled and pulled her robe up from under her friend, tossing his robe at him and beginning to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Severus called after her, getting up and dusting off his clothes.

Gemini stopped and turned around, walking to him in order to minimize the attention that would surround them if they discussed private matters out loud. She held his face in her hands, stood on her toes and pulled his head down so that her lips were mere inches from his right ear.

"I'm going to watch quidditch with Sirius and hang out with him afterwards." She talked normally, knowing that nobody would be able to hear them either way.

"Why?" Severus whined. He was really looking forward to spending the day with her, wanting to get some tips on how to talk to Lily. He then thought that would be a great excuse. "You promised you'd help me with Lily."

"Yeah, yeah," Gemini muttered, "But I found out about something yesterday, and I thought I could learn more about it. It could probably be useful in the future. It could probably help us with Lily, too…somehow." The girl lied. She wasn't entirely sure if the stupid map would be helpful or not, but she knew how complicated James Potter could be. That map had to have some sort of trick to it.

"Is fraternizing with the enemy truly necessary," Severus raised an eyebrow, "Or is there something you're not telling me?"

"There's definitely something I'm not telling you, Snape," Gemini pressed her lips together and turned around, Sirius catching up with her as she walked away.

"Does she take me for an idiot?" Severus didn't unlock his eyes from the sight before the two Gryffindors disappeared into the crowd of students. "Snape?" He chuckled to himself.

* * *

The quidditch game was probably the longest thing Severus had ever experienced. He thought the idea of the sport was interesting, but he didn't exactly enjoy being surrounded by his screaming peers, and he most definitely didn't enjoy watching Gemini make goo-goo eyes at Sirius. It had all started well; Gemini was paying attention to the game while Sirius cheered Potter on. Sirius was so caught up in the game that he seemed to have accidentally stepped on his "date's" foot. It was all downhill from there.

The boy proceeded to beg for forgiveness while Gemini punched him repeatedly in the arm. Sirius had managed to stop one of the blows, leaving Gemini blushing when her fist was being held by the boy's hand. It was a typical movie moment, except for the part where Gemini seemed to snap out of it pretty quickly, pulling her first away and pretending that nothing happened.

Severus had seen it all, and he glared at her, even if it was nearly impossible for her to notice because he was on the opposite side of the field from her. It was really annoying him that he couldn't get closer to the two without seeming suspicious. He wished he could hear the conversation that they were having now, just so he could get the curiosity away.

While Severus continued to watch, Gemini glanced briefly at him, not noticing he was there until she caught his eyes. Had he been there all that time? The girl glanced back at Sirius who was talking about quidditch and how he was thinking about joining the team. Gemini nodded, but didn't want to look very enthusiastic so she didn't make Severus angry with her. She knew he really didn't like Sirius, so she didn't want to upset him, but Sirius was a lot more interesting than she thought he would be.

"He's watching, isn't he? That's why you got quiet all of the sudden?" Sirius laughed, looking at Severus and puckering his lips at him, making Severus lower his eyes.

"Don't mess with him," Gemini wrinkled her nose, "Only I'm allowed to do that."

"Oh, did he give you permission?" Sirius raised his eyebrows with a smirk.

"Kind of?" Gemini thought about it for a second, glancing over at Severus. He was watching them again, but looked away the moment their eyes met once more, "I don't know."

"I see," Sirius stroked his chin, "Well...now that we have a reached a moment of awkward silence, I wish to ask you why you accompanied me here today. You never come to these things."

"Just to talk, I suppose," Gemini shrugged, trying to give the other a smile, but failed. She was still really worried about Severus' feelings and nearly wanted to slap herself for making him question her motives for hanging out with Sirius.

Before Sirius could question her further, the Gryffindor seeker caught the golden snitch. Sirius' attention turned to the game, and he was cheering, raising his fists in the air. Gemini watched in amusement while everyone screamed their guts out, thinking it was silly for them to be so excited about a game. She wasn't really into sports herself, so she didn't understand the thrill of watching someone play. Sirius took Gemini's hand and pulled her to stand up, closing his hand around hers and making a large fist.

"This is the best part of the game," Sirius smiled, pumping the girl's fist in the air, "You get to scream your lungs out!"

Sirius began cheering again, and seeing how happy he looked made Gemini want to be just as happy. She began cheering along with him, receiving a look of approval from the boy before the two ran down from the bleachers to congratulate the team.

Severus watched the two and left the game. He was beyond furious when he knew he shouldn't be. It was kind of impossible for him to keep calm when James had taken the love of his life, and now Sirius was taking the ephemeral friendship that had probably been the best he ever had.

* * *

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Gemini asked casually, trying to bring up the subject of the map. She wasn't sure how to do so, but they were in a place that was private enough so he wouldn't feel uneasy sharing such information.

"I know you're curious about our map," Sirius chuckled, pulling out the piece of parchment Gemini had seen the night before, "We finished it in our dorm."

"It looks kind of unfinished," Gemini wrinkled her nose.

"That's the point," Sirius grinned before tapping the parchment with his wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

Gemini's eyes widened the moment an image and, words began appearing on the parchment; her heart was racing. The map had one good artifice, and she was sure that it would have more than that since the Marauders took so long creating it.

Sirius unfolded the piece of parchment and pointed at two names in particular: Sirius Black and Gemini Volkov. Gemini narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out why her name was on the map, but then noticed what was going on. The map showed their location. Not only their location, but the location of everyone on school grounds!

"Mischief managed," Sirius said to the parchment after tapping it with his wand. The picture immediately faded away. Sirius had a blank look on his face when he darted his eyes to meet Gemini's, "You must not tell Snape about this."

"I won't," Gemini nodded.

* * *

"Hey Severus," Gemini whispered at the boy who was sitting awake in bed. He was writing stuff down in a book when he heard the girl and lifted his head, "Mind if I…slither in?"

Severus was way too preoccupied with the pending anger of his housemates to respond. He simply shut his book and stared at her as if she would disappear or he would wake up from a nightmare.

"Get it?" Gemini chuckled softly, walking into the dorm amidst the beds of sleeping boys, "Slytherin…slither in…"

"I am not in the mood for your jokes, Volkov," Severus stood up and put his hands on the girl's shoulders, pushing her to keep her from entering further into the dorm, "How did you even get in?"

"I waited to hear the password when some of your housemates entered, left to my dorm, took a nap, came back, said the password, and now I'm here," Gemini smiled, but looked at her feet. She was feeling a little intimidated by the way Severus was looking at her, and she wished she had waited to see him until they were in class. "Do you not want to see me?"

"I'd think you'd rather be with Sirius tonight," Severus mumbled, lowering his eyes as well, "I mean, considering how well you two got along during the game today…"

"Don't tell me you're jealous." Gemini smirked, pushing Severus away from her now that she realized why he was being so bitter.

"Of course I'm not jealous! I just didn't want to lose a friend so quickly," Severus frowned, letting go of her shoulders.

"You're not going to lose me to Sirius simply because he's way better looking than you are." The girl tried to sound sympathetic, but her sentence did not come out as she expected it to.

"Thanks, I really needed that," Severus rolled his eyes and went to sit on his bed, leading Gemini to it so she could easily hide if anyone woke up, "Did you at least get some information?"

"Do you really think I would have shown up here so late if I didn't?" Gemini giggled, "Okay, so there's this map. This map has a bunch of secret passages and shows every single room and hall on campus, or at least that's what it looked like. But the most impressive thing is…it shows where every single person on school grounds is."

"That's fabulous…and how exactly is that going to help me?" Severus crossed his arms. He just knew that it was all an excuse to go hang out with Sirius no matter how the girl put it.

"We get to know Lily's location at all times, along with who's with her…of course, we can get her alone and give you some time to talk to her," Gemini grinned, "That's not all. I can use it to get out of the castle and go find my waterfall."

"Why are you doing this? You know that I have to go with you!" Severus pouted. He really hated the idea of leaving school grounds for an idea that sounded as stupid as it sounded dangerous. There was no way he could let the girl go by herself, but he knew he couldn't stop her.

"Great, then this should be fun," Gemini stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Severus stretched his arm out as if it would stop her.

"To my common room of course," Gemini snorted, "Sirius and I are going to braid each other's hair." With that, the girl walked out, leaving Severus with yet another bitter look on his face.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I like this chapter. =w= I really think a lot of my author's notes are pretty pointless, so I'll make this one a little more important. I want to have fun with this fic and I'm going to make a bunch of fun stuff happen between the Marauders and my little duo, but I'd like some feedback. ^^; I have most of it planned out already, but if there's anything you'd like to see happen, you can pm me or just put in the reviews and I'll take into consideration what you say. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

The next day was like any other, except, not. Severus sat next to Lily that day, which didn't bother Gemini very much because, for once, Lily hadn't made Severus move away. What did bother her was that she had to sit next to James that day because there were no more seats in the classroom, which truly brought her blood close to a boil. She could feel James staring at her as if he was getting ready to cast the killing curse on her, which she didn't understand. She hadn't done anything to him, had she?

"I know he told you about the map," James gave Gemini an accusing glare, but spoke quietly so he couldn't be heard by anyone who felt like eavesdropping, "I don't understand why you would ask him about something so private. You knew he'd tell you!"

"I didn't ask!" Gemini frowned, crossing her arms, but her eyes never leaving the letters on the book, "He told me himself. So go glare at him."

"You're just in a bad mood because your boyfriend didn't sit with you today." James chuckled, picking up his own book and reading the instructions for the potion he was about to make.

"And you're just in a bad mood because your girlfriend let him sit next to her." Gemini rolled her eyes before setting up her supplies.

"Oh yeah? Well. Whatever. Just stay away from our things and stop making Sirius like you on purpose!" James muttered, accidentally pricking his finger with one of his tools, which led him to stick said finger in his mouth.

"What? You think I'm doing it on purpose?" Gemini scoffed. She was no longer in the mood to succeed in her potions class, which she had felt like doing before class started. Perhaps she was just looking for an excuse to not try hard in her least favorite class.

"Yes, and I don't like it," James seemed serious as he shook his head, "Stay away from my best friend."

"Don't worry; I will."

* * *

"Hey, why are you sitting here?" Severus stopped by the Gryffindor table, but refused to sit down. He felt kind of weird just standing close to it.

"Sorry, I'm just not in the mood today." Gemini took a spoonful of her soup, but never looked up at her friend. She was still very bothered by how James had talked to her earlier and she wasn't in the mood to take out her anger on just anyone.

"Yeah, so don't bother the lady!" Exclaimed a voice from behind Gemini, which made her jump. She looked at Severus, who seemed just as puzzled as she was. Gemini turned around quickly to find two identical faces that she wasn't very acquainted with, but she recognized.

"I wasn't doing anything." Severus answered, tilting his head to the side. It seemed that Gemini had a lot more friends than what he had initially thought.

"Well according to her, she's not in the mood," The boy Gemini thought to be Fabian spoke.

"So move along, buddy!" The boy Gemini thought to be Gideon crossed his arms and sat down next to her.

"I really don't think this is necessary, thank you." Gemini poked at her food with her fork before bringing it to her mouth and eating.

"Did I do something so wrong that you hired bodyguards?" Severus raised an eyebrow and held his books closer.

"Of course you did," Fabian scoffed, setting down his things as well and sitting next to Gemini on the remaining side.

"Move along, we don't need someone crowding up the aisle." Gideon dismissed the boy with his hands, which made Severus roll his eyes before walking away.

"I'll see you later, Gem." Severus uttered softly and kept walking, obviously heading to their secret spot.

Gemini remained quiet and looked at her food sadly. She didn't know why she let what James told her bother her so much, but it just happened that way. She began to think it was because James was assuming that she was just using Sirius for all the things the Marauders knew. She wasn't like that. She did set up a date with Sirius just to hear about the map, but she genuinely liked Sirius, kind of.

She was beginning to silently question her honesty before the twin to her left spoke.

"Sissy tells us you're dating Snape behind her back and that upsets her," Gideon put his elbows on the table and put his chin in his hands, "Is that true?"

"So that's what this is about." Gemini took a deep breath before glancing to her right, where she could see Molly concentrating on them.

"So you ARE dating Snape?" Fabian questioned.

"Of course not! I don't see why Molly would think that. I really should straighten things out with her…I don't want her thinking I'm lying to her." Gemini frowned. And yet another person was questioning her honesty.

"Great! I thought I'd lost my chance to impress you." Gideon grinned at the younger girl, to which she responded by snorting and taking a sip of juice.

"He's not kidding," Fabian nudged Gemini and took a tiny piece of bread off her plate, "He just hasn't tried because sissy doesn't want us getting involved with you."

"That's cute and all, but I'm not really interested," Gemini mumbled before standing up and getting her books off the table, walking away.

* * *

Gemini set her books down on the floor and sat next to Severus, waiting for him to speak. It was obvious that he hadn't been sitting there for long, because Gemini had left just a few moments after he had, but the boy seemed to be completely focused on his book. After about 5 minutes, Severus decided to acknowledge his friend.

"Hey," Severus shut his book and set it aside, "I thought you were going to be sitting with your friends today, since you didn't want to talk to me."

"It's not like that," Gemini crossed her arms and frowned, "Besides, you're the one that went to sit with Lily, leaving me to sit with James and be questioned by him."

"Is that why you're upset? Because I sat with Lily instead of you?" Severus nudged the small girl before being hit by her in the elbow.

"No…I'm upset because James is accusing me of making Sirius like me. He's saying I'm using him just to get information."

"Isn't that what you told me you're doing?" Now Severus was questioning her.

"I don't know!" The girl buried her face in her hands for a moment and grumbled silently to herself, "I think I might actually like Sirius."

"What are you saying?!" Severus looked horrified and tempted to hit Gemini with his book.

"I'm saying he's actually kind of fun." Gemini shrugged, pretending she didn't notice Severus

misinterpreting what she had said.

"Oh…so you lied to me?"

"A little bit? Not entirely." Gemini turned to her friend for the first time during the conversation.

"Well, I guess that can't be helped," Severus put an arm around the girl and gave her a light squeeze before pulling away, "Don't get so worked up. James is an idiot and you have your reasons for using Sirius. But if you aren't, like you are saying, then you should be glad just by knowing that yourself."

"I guess you're right." Gemini mumbled and let her head rest on his shoulder. "Remind me to talk to Molly when I wake up. I'm awfully tired from having to inform you of my every move last night."

Severus agreed and Gemini nodded off to sleep.

* * *

Gemini was awakened by her head hitting the ground and a loud whistling noise which she could not distinguish. She wished she didn't require so much sleep because any time something interesting happened, she was asleep. The small girl stood from her spot and noticed Severus looking over the balcony before he picked up both their books and took Gemini's hand, dragging her away quickly.

"What's going on?" Gemini did not stop looking at the floor because she feared she would step on Severus's robe and trip them both.

"Something landed outside."

They ran past the crowds of students until they made it all the way down, where even more students were huddling around the scene. Gemini couldn't see, but Severus was tall enough to describe the object.

"It's just a big rock." Severus tried to show Gemini how big it was with his hands, which only made the girl more curious.

She got on her knees and began pushing past the legs of students until she crawled all the way to the front. Severus was right; it was really just a big rock. From what she could see, it wasn't just any ordinary big rock. It had blue light peeking through the cracks, which soon turned gray as a few more seconds went by.

"Step aside." Dumbledore told the students before they created a small, free path for him to walk through. Gemini didn't notice him and picked up a stick from the floor, inspecting the large rock with said stick.

Soon, she could hear Dumbledore stepping closer, which led her to desperately hit the rock. There was no way she was going to miss out on what this rock was about. After a few more hits, a piece of the rock fell, and Gemini picked it up quickly before sticking it in her pocket.

"What are you doing, Ms. Volkov?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, which made Gemini drop the stick. She was glad she got a piece before he arrived.

"Nothing, Headmaster, you go right ahead and enjoy yourself." Gemini smiled and ran back to Severus, almost dancing from the excitement. The rock seemed pretty important and she had a small piece of it.

She went back to her balcony with Severus, careful not to touch or drop the piece from the pocket. Maybe if she and Severus studied it enough, they could get a huge prize by finding out what it was and where it came from.

"I have some of it!" Gemini searched in her pocket but felt nothing but a metal coin, "What?"

"I knew you were going to do something stupid like that. I need to learn how to stop you soon." Severus shook his head and waited. Although it was stupid, he wanted to see what it was about.

"The rock turned into this…" She mumbled, pulling out the coin and looking down at it. She froze for a moment and handed it to Severus.

"What's the big deal?" Severus held it up and tilted his head, "It's just a roman numeral two."

"No, look closer." She pulled it away from him and held it up to the boy's eyes. "It's the Gemini symbol."

"Hey, your name is Gemini." Severus laughed as he held up the coin again.

"You remember when this happened first year, Fabian?"

"Yes, I do, Gideon."

"What happened first year?" Gemini went up to the twins who had just walked into their balcony. She would have made them leave if it had been another situation, but she was rather interested in what they had to say.

"A rock fell from the sky. Just like the one in front of the school. A girl went up to it and took a piece, which then turned into a coin which she claimed was for her." Fabian started, getting closer and taking the coin from Gemini to get a closer look.

"And what happened afterwards?" Severus asked.

"We never saw her again."


	6. Chapter 6

After many accusing glares from Severus and Gemini after their childish joke, the twins decided they'd help their fellow Gryffindor by doing some research. The four of them marched down to the library to hit the books, although they didn't think they'd find much that could be helpful. At least, not unless they looked in the restricted section. Although they were all fairly anxious, they decided to leave the criminal activity for sometime in the night and began reading what was available.

Gemini found a book where there were lists and summaries of weird events that had happened throughout time, but nothing that was recent enough. Most of the stories had to do with murders that were never solved or children disappearing by being swallowed by the ground, which she didn't find similar enough to her case. What most caught her attention was a picture of a girl that looked a lot like her.

She held down the picture on the page so she could get a better look without the light shining on the girl's face. Her eyes widened at the crazy resemblance, which led her to read what had happened to said girl. According to the book, her name was Xanatx Den, and she lived in Bangladesh. Gemini was rather confused as to why her name was so weird, but she didn't question it further. She just wondered how that name was pronounced. The girl lived about two hundred years before, yet everything about her looked so modern that it scared her.

"Why are you in the book?" Severus mumbled, leaning in closer to look at the picture a little better, but came to the realization that the girl was someone else.

Gemini shushed Severus as she read on. The girl was married to a man named Adrian Dimir, a Romanian that bought spices and transported them back home. When he visited, he bought spices from Xanatx, whom he fell in love with and asked to come back to Romania with him. She refused the first few times until one day, she agreed. Soon after the wedding, it was said that Adrian was rather jealous and wanted to keep Xanatx to himself, so she was never seen by anyone once they married. No one knew of when she died.

"I don't see what makes her so important," Gemini mumbled under her breath, "Her story sounds like a fairy tale."

"The rest of her story is missing," Severus pointed at the blank space under the short paragraph, "See? Most stories take up about three paragraphs and go all the way down to the page. But this one is missing information and this space is too large to be left like that. Whoever wrote this would have closed up the space by adding the beginning to another story."

"You're right." Gemini muttered as she looked around before ripping the page out.

Severus was about to scold her for damaging school property, but he was aware that it was no use. The harm was done and he had realized that reprimanding Gemini only made her want to do things more.

"Gideon," Gemini called out to the twin who was reading the titles of books on a shelf, "What really happened to the girl you told us about?"

"Her? Well, she did get a coin. It didn't fall from the sky, though. She found it in one of her books." Gideon bit his lip as he tried to recall the event, but turned to his brother as he gave up.

"She said her boyfriend had put it there, but everyone knew she was single. After all the fuss she made about how sweet her boyfriend was, she disappeared for a few months. She came back, but didn't talk to anyone. I heard a lot of people say she had gone mute," Fabian shook his head, "She didn't return to school the year after, which is why you kids don't know about her."

"What did she look like?" Gemini looked down at the photo as she said this, wondering if there was some sort of connection considering they both looked the same.

"I don't quite remember," Gideon made a face, crossing his arms, "I feel as if her image was wiped away. I just remember she existed."

"That's odd," Gemini wrinkled her nose, "It seems like someone didn't want you to remember her." She felt she was onto something, but she wasn't quite sure what it was yet. She folded the page and stuffed it in her pocket, taking her things and walking away, "I'll see you guys later."

* * *

The longer she stared at the picture, the more nervous she felt. There was a knot in her throat that was making it harder for her to swallow, which she knew was not a good sign. She wasn't scared. She thought what she felt was amazement. She didn't know much about her origin other than her cultural background, and the picture made her feel like she knew a little more. Perhaps that woman was her great-great-great-great-grandmother or something.

Her thoughts were clouding up as sleep tried to take over and make her crash on the couch of the Gryffindor common room, but not before the page was snatched away by the one the one she felt like avoiding.

"What's this?" Sirius looked at the page, snorting, "A creepy love story; totally sounds like something you would read."

Without a word, Gemini took the page back and put it away in her pocket before sitting quietly and looking at the fireplace. She really hoped Sirius asked her what was wrong because she didn't want to tell him if he wasn't interested, but she really wanted to get the feelings off her chest.

"What's wrong, Gem?" Sirius said teasingly, poking the girl's arm and giving her that charming smile of his in order to make her feel better.

"James told me I'm taking advantage of you because you like me," Gemini answered so quickly that she lost her breath.

"And you're not taking advantage of me?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at the girl and chuckled, "I wouldn't mind if you are; I just want to know."

"Of course not!" Gemini threw her hands in the air to show how ridiculous Sirius was being, "I think you're fun and interesting and I like you."

"You like me?" Sirius put an arm around Gemini, only to have it pushed away.

"I like you as a person, but that's it." Gemini snorted, shaking her head.

"Perhaps you'll like me differently in the future?" Sirius tilted his head. He knew he shouldn't say 'perhaps' because most girls usually did like him after a few tries, but Gemini was certainly different and so she got different treatment, at least from him she did.

"I think she'll be a little busy liking me differently," Gideon smirked at the boy before he took Gemini's hand, pulling her up so she would stand, "I need to talk to you; let's go."

"You're not supposed to leave the common room so late at night!" Sirius called behind them, but made no attempt to get up and follow.

"It's not like you follow that rule," Gideon retorted, laughing as he opened the door quietly and slid out.

* * *

Gemini looked around the room Gideon had brought her to, which was too dark to actually see anything. Gideon flipped a switch somewhere and small lights came on, the room still looking very dim, but much better than before. A small couch and a coffee table were revealed near the center of the room, while it was surrounded by different tables that contained books, paperwork and items that seemed to be rarely touched.

"This is where the magic happens," Gideon grinned, sitting on the couch and admiring the view of the room, "Actually, this is just where we keep our things."

"Do you come here often?" Gemini gazed at the books that had collected dust, along with a few toys that looked fairly ancient. She shrugged and sat down next to the boy, wondering what there was to be said.

"We do. We just make it dusty so it looks like no one comes in here. When things look abandoned, most people just assume it is not meant to be seen and leave it alone." Gideon shrugged, which caused Gemini to smile. That was absolutely genius in her eyes.

"That's a brilliant idea," Gemini nodded towards the tables and then looked back at Gideon, "So what would you like to talk to me about?"

"Oh, that," Gideon ran his fingers over the back of his neck and stretched a little before making a face, "Try to stay away from Sirius Black. I'm not getting a good vibe from him."

"You're not getting a good vibe from him?" Gemini would have asked if it had anything to do with Sirius's newly found crush on her, which conveniently happened close to Gideon admitting his, but that didn't seem like it. Gideon was confident enough in himself to not feel jealous towards a younger boy, so what he was said was probably right.

"I feel like he's being a little weird. He doesn't usually fawn over girls; he waits for them to fawn over him. Don't you think that's different?" Gideon set his legs on the table and stared at the ceiling.

"I guess so, but couldn't it just be because I'm basically the only person that has defied him?" That's what Gemini had thought when it first happened, but she was beginning to feel unsure of her inference.

"You defied him?" Gideon chuckled. Did every girl think Sirius Black had his own kingdom?

"Yeah, when I first talked to him. He tried to flirt with me when I was defending Severus from his ridiculous little group of friends, and after that, he just seemed to like me." Gemini didn't think the story sounded too complicated, so she didn't over-explain herself and kept her mouth shut.

"That sounds like you," Gideon wrinkled his nose as he smiled, pulling out a piece of candy from his pocket and placing one on his tongue. He held up another to the girl next to him, "Would you like one?"

"No, thanks. I at least know you well enough to never accept candy from you."

"That's not very nice," The twin stuck the candy back in his pocket and went back to serious mode, "So, you really don't think there's anything wrong?"

"I sure hope not. I was starting to like him," Gemini commented, but quickly continued, "As a person."

"If you did just like him as a person, you wouldn't have to add the 'as a person' at the end of your sentence. That means you've thought about it differently before." Gideon sucked on his piece of candy, puckering his lips in order to make it melt faster.

"Well, I've been misinterpreted already, so I thought I wouldn't let it happen anymore," Gemini reached for the twin's pocket and took the candy. Just seeing him eat it made her want some. She carefully unwrapped the candy and sniffed it, wondering what flavor it was before sticking it in her mouth. Strawberry.

"Ha! That candy has a love potion in it, which means you're madly in love with me now!" Gideon pointed at the girl's mouth accusingly.

"The filling is strawberry, I think." Gemini puckered her lips much like the twin had earlier, trying to keep herself from biting the candy so she could enjoy it longer.

"Well, aren't you a little bit more attracted to me now?" The twin nudged the small girl, which only made her laugh.

"You really should check to see if I'm in here before you try and flirt with little Gemini." Fabian stood up from his spot behind the couch, a blanket over his head and a goofy smile on his face.

* * *

Author's Note: I decided to surprise you guys and give you a quick chapter because I took so long to get to 5. So here it is. Also, I know the story doesn't center on Severus/Gemini just yet, but there's a reason for that. They are still the main pairing~ So enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

"The first thing we're going to do is work on your appearance, because appearance is everything!" Gemini grinned, tossing Severus a bottle of shampoo. It was a fairly hefty bottle of shampoo as well, which made Severus feel somewhat offended, but not enough to stop taking the girl seriously.

"Isn't that a bit misleading? I was told by books that appearance isn't everything." Severus shook his head. He opened the bottle of shampoo and sniffed the opening, taking in the odd smell. He couldn't quite distinguish it, but it was a nice.

"That's what they want you to think, but listen. Let's say Potter was rude to Lily just like you were rude to her. Do you think she'd be angry with him? Maybe a little, but not enough to shun him. Why?" Gemini tilted her head, as if waiting for Severus to answer, which she knew he wouldn't. "Because, to be honest, he's kind of really hot."

"Thanks. Now, how is this going to help?" Severus raised the bottle.

"I'm going to teach you how to wash your hair properly." Gemini led Severus to the girl's restroom. She knew it was always empty and she knew the reason why, but she felt it was best to not bring it up unless the situation called for it.

Severus followed close behind, hiding the bottle of shampoo inside his robe. He was kind of embarrassed to be treated like a child, and he felt he knew how to wash up well enough, so he didn't understand why he had to learn such things at his age. Either way, he kept walking. He was prepared to do anything to get Lily to love him.

"Please remove your robe, vest and shirt. I'd rather not be held accountable for what happens to them." Gemini turned the knob on the sink and let the water run. She stuck her hand under the faucet and rinsed her hand to test the water temperature, which seemed warm enough in her opinion.

"Isn't that awkward?" Severus mumbled as he removed his robe, but refused to go any further.

Gemini sighed out of frustration and knelt down in front of Severus, pulling off his vest and sniffing it. So it wasn't just his hair that smelled that way. She set the vest aside and began unbuttoning his shirt, trying to look motherly as she did so.

"I'm not looking at you as someone of the opposite sex, but a son. I don't want my son to smell funny next to the girl he loves," Gemini sniffed the shirt and found that it contained the same odor as well, "My gosh, Severus. Do you ever wash these?"

"I don't quite remember the last time I did." The boy shrugged, now feeling more comfortable. Of course she wouldn't see him that way. Besides, Gemini had two good-looking boys at her doorstep; if she wasn't interested in either one of them, she would obviously not be interested in Severus.

Gemini turned the knob of three other sinks, filling them halfway and adding shampoo in each sink. She put each piece of clothing in a different sink to keep the colors from bleeding and allowed them to soak as she proceeded to the next step. She made Severus stick his head under the water faucet, getting his dark strands fully wet until she made him sit up on the floor again.

"This would be much easier if you had short hair, but no matter," Gemini squeezed a good amount of shampoo on the top of Severus's head, massaging her fingers through his scalp and then moving through the rest of the hair. "This is how you do it. First you run your fingers all over your roots and then you get the ends. Try it."

"This is stupid," Severus groaned as he repeated the procedure Gemini had laid out for him, "Should I cut my hair?"

"No!" Gemini answered quickly, but then tried to seem more calm, "It makes you different." She loved long hair on girls, which was the reason she kept it long herself, but she would never mention that she loved it on guys even more.

As Severus added more shampoo to his hair, Gemini strolled over to the sinks filled with murky water. She made a face and began rubbing fabric against fabric in order to create friction and remove any stains, sweat, or dirt that was trapped. The shirt turned frothy with soap and once she felt she was done, she rinsed away the bubbles. She repeated the process two more times until she was done, then hung the clothes on the ends of the sinks.

"Perhaps you should have thought this over a little more," Severus commented, sticking his head under the running water to get rid of the shampoo, "Now we have to wait until the clothes is dry.

"We don't have classes today, don't worry. We can just continue our lessons," Gemini rinsed her hands off once more before she pointed at her friend's hair, "It looks great! Wait until it dries. You'll really see the difference."

Severus made a face and squeezed out the excess water, leaning back against the wall and shivering because it was cold. Gemini sat back as well, wondering what her next lesson would be. She wasn't going to fully bathe Severus in a bathroom, since she thought he knew about that himself. He didn't smell funny, just his hair and his clothes, which were corrected. She thought perhaps they'd go into something more interesting.

"Have you ever had a girlfriend, Severus?" Gemini glanced at the boy, who seemed immediately uncomfortable with the topic that came up.

"I've always been in love with Lily, and we've always been just friends." Severus touched the ends of his hair that were still dripping, catching the drops of water with his fingers.

"That's your problem. You have no experience," Gemini pointed out.

"Oh really? You must have a lot of experience, considering you get new boys having crushes on you every day." Severus stuck out his tongue. He would probably never admit to Gemini that he was a little jealous of how good she seemed to do with the opposite sex, but he admitted it to himself in his head.

"I've only had one boyfriend in my entire life, yet I'm a little ashamed on who it is," Gemini held her fist in front of Severus and stuck out her pinky finger, "Promise not to tell?"

"Of course," Severus nodded and hooked his own pinky finger with Gemini's.

"James."

Severus was trying to keep himself from running out of the restroom. He really was. There was a point where he just blinked, trying to process the information. There was a moment where all he did was gape at her. There was also a moment where he simply shut his eyes and tried to imagine what that had been like. That's when he remembered third year.

"You dated him third year. Lily and I were still friends and you two were close, weren't you?" Severus didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, so he tried to keep himself sounding neutral.

"Yeah. I was outside of the castle late at night, simply because I enjoy going outdoors when its dark. He followed me out because he had been in the common room when I left. And we just talked. Kind of." Gemini shrugged.

"Is that why you're not scared of the Marauders?" Severus felt that would make a lot more sense.

"I was never scared of them, but knowing James helps a little. I never really got to know the rest, other than Sirius, recently." Gemini smiled a little as she said so, wishing she could talk to him as well. He was really growing on her, and she didn't understand why.

"I get it. And…why did you break up with Potter? Or who broke up with who?" Severus tried to seem as if he wasn't all the curious, but in all honesty, he wanted to know what had been wrong with the boy who was so boastful and found perfect by everyone in their year.

"I broke up with him because I felt like it," Gemini giggled, "That's the key. When breaking up, never give a reason. You'll hurt the person more that way. That's why James can't stand me. That's why he's so angry that Sirius likes me. Because he never got to know why."

"You're an evil genius!" Severus laughed, clapping his hands together, "So there was no actual reason?"

"Not entirely. He kissed me one day and I just didn't feel the same anymore, so I broke up with him."

"I don't understand how you could have dated someone so repulsive," Severus made a face, but was fascinated with the information. So Gemini hadn't dated very much, but she seemed to have good experience. He would definitely trust her after that story.

"I dated him because I liked him, of course," Gemini nodded her head slightly and then decided to move on, "Anyway. Since you have no experience, you'll just have to use mine. To get her to like you, you simply have to be mysterious. You smell nice, you have some sort of dark aura around you," Gemini opened and closed to her fists to represent the aura, "And for some reason, you decide to approach her!"

Perhaps Severus wouldn't completely trust her.

"You approach her after ignoring her for a few weeks. She's sitting alone, enjoying the shade under a tree. You go sit next to her and she looks at you with curious eyes. Without saying anything, you take her face in your hands and…!" Gemini made a clapping noise, "You kiss her and she's yours forever!"

"That's absurd!" Severus was blushing just at the thought of kissing Lily so randomly. He was already nervous and his short friend was certainly not helping at all.

"Let me guess, you've never kissed anyone either?" Gemini wrinkled her nose. She had thought the task of getting Lily to date Severus would be easier, but she had been completely wrong.

"It's better than having kissed Potter!" Severus pointed, trying to take the pity away from himself.

"Potter is not the only person I've kissed, so don't try to make me feel bad." Gemini stuck out her tongue. "Well, you better find some candidates soon, because you don't want to be gross when you kiss her."

"What if she doesn't want to kiss me?" Severus frowned, hugging himself. He looked so small when he did that.

"Trust me, she'll want to. You smell nice," Gemini stuck her nose in her friend's hair and took a deep breath, "So don't worry. Confidence is another thing we'll have to talk about later."

Gemini stood up and dusted off her robe, heading for the door when Severus literally jumped and wrapped his arms around her quickly to keep her from leaving. He knew she would try to leave him in such a situation. She glanced up at the boy and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, let's talk about confidence now."

* * *

Author's Note: Hey, look, another chapter. I thought I'd get a little background in this one.


	8. Chapter 8

A week had gone by and Gemini had been much too occupied teaching Severus to remember that she had both a mission she wanted to complete and a friend whom she wanted to reconcile with. She felt like a horrible person for forgetting her best friend, and the thought of Molly still thinking about Gemini's dishonesty made her feel sick.

Molly was sitting on her bed, reading one of her textbooks. That's also when Gemini remembered she had some homework due the following day. She mentally face-palmed, but thought that would help her make conversation. She quietly strolled inside the girls' dorm, sitting on Molly's bed and poking the textbook.

"When's the homework due?" Gemini smiled at her friend who simply glanced over her textbook and handed the shorter girl a small piece of parchment with some notes and the due date on it. Gemini frowned and pulled the book away from Molly, squeezing her best friend into a tight hug.

"Molly, I'm so sorry!" Gemini squeezed harder, looking up at her friend to see her reaction. Molly was laughing and hugged Gemini back, petting her hair.

"Don't be upset, I just like to know when good things happen to you," Molly smiled, "I don't know if dating Severus is necessarily considered the most ideal situation, but if you're happy, I'm happy."

"I'm not dating Severus," Gemini laughed softly, getting off her friend and sitting up, "Severus is in love with Lily Evans and I'm just helping him become the man of her dreams." Gemini wanted to laugh after she said that, but she knew she wasn't kidding. Severus was coming along well, as he had learned to properly groom himself. He had even learned to stop hiding behind his books. Although his confidence hadn't improved too much, but it was better.

Molly seemed even happier than before, mostly because Gemini hadn't been keeping a romantic relationship hidden. Soon, a more curious look came to her face. "Why would you want to make him the man of Lily's dreams? You don't know her that well. Besides, that doesn't make sense if you don't know what Lily likes in a guy."

Gemini thought for a moment, nodding. The first thing that came to her head was that she had been doing wrong, but the next one made her kind of upset. She had dated Potter, and Lily seemed to really like him. If she made Severus like Potter, then he would become the man of Lily's dreams. Her lip curled at the thought and she shook her head. There was no way she was ever going to make Severus like that boy.

"You seem awfully pensive," Molly mumbled, putting a hand on Gemini's shoulder, "Perhaps you've realized that you're technically making him the man of your dreams?"

"What?" Gemini chuckled, which soon turned into a roaring nervous laugh, "How could you even think that, Molly? Honestly!" She was still laughing, but the laughter soon died down as she realized Molly was right. She was making him perfect in her own opinion, but she wasn't sure if Lily had the same standards.

"I'm just telling you how it is. If you really want to make him the perfect man for Lily, you should talk to Lily about it."

"Talk to Lily about what?" Lily Evans entered the room and tossed her robe on her bed, approaching the two girls. Gemini was hoping she would never have to talk to the girl about such matters, but it seemed as if luck was not on her side that day.

"Gemini is wondering what the guy of your dreams is like." Molly answered happily, but Lily made a face.

"Uh, you see, it's for my muggle studies class. Since you're a muggle-born, I'm assuming you grew up with the standards of regular girl. What would those be?" Gemini was glad she could save the awkward talk and make it seem more practical than it really was.

"Well really, I didn't start liking boys until I was close to coming to Hogwarts, but I met Sev during that time, meaning I mostly occupied myself trying to find out more about this place rather than meeting more boys," Lily Evans thought to herself for a moment before she spoke softly, "I guess my taste is just as any other girl's."

"Sev?" Gemini thought for a moment before it hit her, "Severus?"

"Yeah," Lily mumbled, now realizing that she had used his nickname without meaning to, "We met before Hogwarts. He told me about the magic and also told me I was a witch when I didn't know it."

Gemini nodded her head slowly. It made sense that Severus was completely in love with her. They had known each other for so long, and he had been there with her forever. Gemini muttered a soft "thank you" before she left the room. She really needed to get some air.

* * *

Severus stared out into the courtyard, sitting under a tree. There were not many people left outside because it was almost time for them to go to their designated common room, but Severus was in hiding. He had not been in the mood to focus on anything other than trying to be who Lily wanted him to be, and so spending a lot of time alone was crucial in his opinion. He had never been more dedicated to anything else, other than potions and dark arts, of course. He knew that with enough dedication, there was a possibility that he could get Lily to like him soon, or at the very least, forgive him.

With that thought in his head came yet another, which made a knot come to his throat. Gemini was friends with him because she wanted to help him. He remembered when she had momentarily helped him at the beginning of the year and left in that moment, not caring that she had saved him from further humiliation. She seemed to only care about helping people, but not people themselves. It was puzzling.

_"I think I might actually like Sirius."_

Gemini's voice rang in Severus' head, reminding him of the rotten fact. Although he wanted to be angry that he remembered what she had said, he felt much better to know that she did have the ability to like someone. Then again, what girl didn't like Sirius? Again, he began to feel sick and wished that he was more bold and able to ask such things. Maybe Gemini was just like every other girl.

As the he was questioning himself about every little thing, his eyes caught a familiar face that was walking in the middle of the field. Gemini looked somewhat confused and somewhat upset. He was about to approach her when he noticed that someone was following her as she continued to walk and sat on a bench. Gemini didn't notice him until he was sitting with her. Sirius.

Severus looked around to make sure he wasn't seen before he ran towards the bush that was behind the bench. He needed to hear this, whatever it was. He knew he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he couldn't help it. For some reason, he felt Gemini could be thinking about their friendship just like he had.

"What's wrong, Gem?" Sirius put an arm around the girl who was too upset to push him away. Severus frowned because of this, wondering why Sirius was calling her Gem now. Were they really that close?

"It's really nothing." Gemini was choking. It was almost as if she had heard some grave news.

"You know you can tell me anything. What happened?" Sirius tucked a lose strand of Gemini's hair behind her ear, causing Severs to covers his eyes with his hand. He decided it was best not to watch their movements because he was sure Sirius was going to try and win her heart over when she was most upset.

"I just found out Lily and Severus were friends before Hogwarts."

Severus smiled at the mention of his name, but wondered why she would tell Sirius about the situation rather than himself. Besides, he didn't even understand her problem with them knowing each other well.

"What's so wrong with that?" Sirius sounded genuinely troubled, making Severus question if he really had feelings for her or if he was just playing around like he did with other girls.

"I think that once Lily and Severus get together, which I'm trying to help him do, then not only will their romantic relationship grow, but so will their friendship, leaving me to find someone else to hang out with."

Severus shook his head, wishing he could jump out of the bush just like that, simply to tell her how much he appreciated her friendship as well. Their friendship had been even better than his friendship with Lily, which he felt he only liked because he was so in love with her. Gemini's friendship was different, and he truly felt that he needed her by his side even after he began dating Lily.

"I knew that at the beginning of the year," Sirius laughed a little, shrugging, "I don't think it's all that bad. Don't worry; I don't think they'll start dating. I trust James can keep Lily with him. And if they do, you can most certainly hang out with me. You and I have a lot in common, you see."

Gemini snorted and mumbled, "How so?"

"I don't know, I was hoping you knew," Sirius laughed, which made the girl laugh as well, "Actually, I just really like you. I'm not just saying this because you're cute, but I like that you are really into bold and interesting. You don't even care if I like you and I like that."

"That's odd. You only like girls that aren't interested in you," Severus pressed his fingers against his eyelids further, trying to convince himself to fall asleep or something similar. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Gemini was actually indirectly flirting with Sirius. It was all in her voice.

"What? Now you're going to tell me that you're interested in Snivellus and that's why you can't like me?" Although Sirius sounded like he was kidding, there had to be some truth behind his question. Severus uncovered his eyes and actually began thinking once again, but found the thought impossible. He had to stop thinking like that about his friend.

"Oh, I'm not saying that. I'm only saying that there's surely someone better than you. Like Gideon, for example."

Sirius was quiet for a moment before he said, "You truly are messing with my poor, innocent heart."

_"Innocent, my butt,"_ thought Severus, as he tried to wiggle himself a little further away from the bush because his legs were getting uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you're not messing with mine?"

"I'm serious about you."

"You're always Sirius, I'm sure," Gemini laughed at her pun, which made Severus shake his head.

"I'm not kidding!" Sirius tried to keep himself from laughing, but was unable to do so.

"How am I supposed to know that?"

Everything went quiet and Severus had a feeling that Gemini had been murdered. He slowly raised his head from the grown and peeked through his fingers, a sight he never thought he'd see. He wasn't sure what to do, so all he did was stare. He stared until Sirius noticed him.

Sirius signaled Severus to leave quickly with the hand that had been previously holding on to Gemini's shoulder, while the other hand was holding the girl's face. Instead of listening, Severus finally stood up and dragged Gemini away without saying a word, even if Sirius was glaring holes into the back of his head.

* * *

Author's Note: Hey guys! Well, because the second half of this story was mostly following Snape, I tried to explain things the way he would see them. Also, yes. Gemini and Sirius kissed, but because Snape didn't want to think about it, it was not mentioned. Lastly, Snape was being protective like any friend, since he doesn't like Sirius, therefore, this wasn't that much of an "OMO MARRY ME" move from Snape to Gemini. Enjoy.


	9. Chapter 9

Severus hadn't realized what he had done until he was halfway to his common room, which made him remember that Gemini was not in Slytherin. He released the girl's hand, and turned to look at her. She looked scared, a hand over her mouth as she stared into nothing. Severus felt more pity because of this, to which he responded by pulling her close and hugging her tightly. She looked so small and helpless, which upset Severus mostly because he wasn't used to seeing her that way.

"I did it, didn't I?" Gemini mumbled, pushing Severus away because she wasn't in the mood for comfort, "I did what I wasn't supposed to do."

"That's not your fault," Severus pulled his arms away, crossing them before sitting on the ground. He knew it was almost time for the prefects to come around to make sure everyone was where they are supposed to be.

"Sirius started it, but I liked it. It's my fault that I liked it. I'm not supposed to like it and I'm not supposed to like HIM," she covered her face, which was mostly likely blushing by now. Severus wanted to feel disgusted by what she was saying, but all he felt was anger towards the boy who had caused this.

"You liked it?" Severus did not look at her. He was beginning to feel bad for ruining something Gemini enjoyed. While Gemini was trying to improve his love life, he was ruining hers.

"I liked it. It was nice. And he's nice, which made the kiss much nicer. I kind of wish you weren't such a good friend now," Gemini pouted, almost wanting to go back in time, "I'm such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot; he's just an intolerable twit," Severus commented in an attempt to make Gemini feel better, "We can't let him get away with this. I believe it's time to fight back."

"How are we supposed to fight back? I don't even know why we're fighting."

"Remember why you talked to Sirius in the first place? To get your precious map?" the boy spoke slowly, but tried to make their mission sound a lot more important than what he truly thought it was, "Use him like he used you just now. If we get that map, I'll accompany you on your journey and won't complain."

"I really don't think he's all that bad, Severus," Gemini ignored him, curling her finger around a strand of her hair.

"Just because he kissed you, you've gone soft all of the sudden?" Severus scoffed, "I knew it, you're just like other girls."

"That's not it! Besides, once you start dating Lily, I'll be all by myself and I'm going to need someone to be with. Sirius offered to be that person and I think I'm taking his offer."

The two of them were beginning to get worked up and it was obvious. Severus was furious, even if he tried to hide it. Gemini was just angry that Severus was being so selfish. The witch looked away after what she had said, wishing she could take it back. Her mistakes were too many, and she realized she had to work on that soon.

"You heard what Sirius said. I'm probably not going anywhere," Severus rolled his eyes. Although he really wanted to things to go well, he could never be too sure. He tried to keep himself hopeful, but didn't want to feel let down if Lily still hated him.

"Come on, Severus. Look at you. You're way better than Potter. Smarter and nicer, too. I just feel like there's no way Lily won't like you, even if Potter may be better looking," Gemini sighed, "I know it'll work out. I just know it."

"It is weird to me that you're being so friendly."

"I created you, that's the only reason I'm praising you," Gemini hummed, "I'll be going now, I'm not in the rule-breaking mood today."

Severus waved and left as well.

* * *

The lights were off and that made Severus think that everyone had probably gone to bed already. He sat down on his own bed and removed his robe, changing into his worn pajamas because Gemini had made him promise that he would change every night. Once his pants were on and he was about to slip on his shirt, two sets of hands held on to both of his wrists. He gasped for a moment and shut his eyes until he was carried off, feeling some sense of familiarity with the scare he had just gotten.

"Avery, Mulciber," Severus called out softly as he was set down on the couch of the Slytherin common room, searching for faces in the dark.

"I thought you had forgotten our names," the voice Severus recognized as Mulciber spoke up, followed by laughter that didn't sound amused at all.

"You've been so busy hanging out with that Gryffindor girl," Avery snarled, which only made Mulciber's unpleasant laughter grow slightly louder.

Severus hadn't thought of the possibility that the two had noticed her. They were usually so caught up hurting Gryffindors and practicing curses that they never even noticed when he didn't talk to them for weeks. He pressed his lips together, not wanting to mention anything about her. For some reason, he just knew they were going to mess with her.

"Oh, you thought we wouldn't notice?" Mulciber snorted, "Please. You haven't been so clingy with anyone other than that filthy mudblood of yours. I'm assuming this one isn't much better, right? Sometimes I can't understand why we're friends with you."

"You are friends with me because we share the same love for the dark arts along with the fact that I have created a lot of spells and curses which you have found useful," Severus's voice was full of authority, which didn't get by the two boys, "I don't think my personal life should matter much to you, in all honesty."

"You are being rather cold to us today, _Sev_," Avery teased, poking Severus with his wand, "You didn't let us play around with the other one, can we try anything on this one? You haven't known her for that long. Surely she's done something to bother you."

Gemini had done many things to bother him. She was irresponsible, bossy, indecisive, insane and could also be a tad bit arrogant. Even so, Severus cared very much for her, and something in his being made him overlook all the flaws that she carried with her. He looked down at his lap as he thought longer, pretending to actually feel some sort of hatred towards her in order to satisfy his friend, but shook his head in the end.

"She is very helpful," Severus muttered, "She is helping me get revenge on the Marauders because she doesn't like them either. If you ask me, you two would like her if she wasn't in Gryffindor."

"Are you sure she doesn't like them?" Avery chuckled, "I just saw her snogging with Sirius on my way in from the courtyard. It was so intense that I almost wished he was snogging me."

"They weren't snogging and you're an imbecile!" Severus shouted, but realized that he sounded too defensive.

"Someone's a little cranky," Avery commented, frowning at how overprotective Severus was being.

"So we're not allowed to use her for anything either?" Mulciber groaned, trying to put the conversation back on track, "Is it odd that I thought you were seducing her so we could experiment on her?"

"You've known me for so long and yet you still think I'd seduce anyone?" Severus couldn't help laughing.

"You seem a lot cleaner and seem to care more about how you look. Anyone would think you're trying to seduce her," Avery joined in, laughing as well.

"That's another story," Severus shook his head, "May I get to bed now?"

"Go ahead, but do let us in on your plans more often, Severus," Mulciber dismissed the boy, who stood and left to finish changing. He wasn't going to sleep just yet; he needed to begin planning what he could do to get that map.

* * *

Gemini feared that she would bump into Sirius when she got back, but for some reason wanted to as well. Although Severus was trying to change her point of view, he had to be aware of the situation. Gemini hadn't dated anyone for a long time and she was already sixteen. Severus couldn't put up with that himself, so she didn't understand why she had to.

She was glad to see that Sirius had been waiting for her, sitting on the same couch she had been sitting on the other day. Although she was happy, her face returned to its previous shade of red as she sat down, which almost made her want to go straight to bed.

"You're not going to deny my hugs now, are you?" Sirius hugged Gemini briefly as he pulled away, hoping Severus hadn't ruined him in Gemini's eyes because of what had happened.

"Don't push your luck," Gemini shook her head, "Severus says you're just being an intolerable twit."

"Severus thinks a lot of things, but that doesn't make them true, does it? Same with you, even. You told me you didn't like me many times before, yet you seemed pretty upset when Severus took you away from me," Sirius said teasingly, knowing that it would probably be a lot easier to mess with the girl now.

Gemini rolled her eyes as she made herself comfortable on the couch. She was very tired, but wanted to wait to listen and see if Sirius had more to say. She hated the feeling of relying on someone so much and liking them, but she couldn't help it. It was almost as if she was desperate.

_"Ew,"_ she thought to herself, covering her face.

"You're so bold that I'd think you'd be the kind to ask for more," Sirius giggled, putting an arm around her like he had before. This caused Gemini to freeze because it reminded her of the previous event, but she wouldn't look uncomfortable and let Sirius have the satisfaction.

"You're good at kissing; I can't deny that," Gemini shrugged.

"If you date me, there will be more where that came from!" Sirius sang, grinning at Gemini.

"There's no way Severus would ever let me date you. He already warned me about what a bad guy you are," Gemini giggled, feeling a little more comfortable. She liked how Sirius didn't make awkward situations make an awkward friendship, although she wasn't sure if it was about to be more than that soon.

"I have an idea. Why don't we hide this from him?"

"Are you…are you serious?" Gemini's eyes widened at the thought. It was probably the best idea ever, other than the fact that she wouldn't get to tell her best guy friend about her boyfriend.

"Weren't you the one that said that I'm always Sirius?" The boy tittered softly, "Of course I am. So, how about it?"

"I don't know," Gemini sighed. She really didn't want to upset Severus if he found out, but she really wanted to give Sirius a chance.

"We can hang out after bedtime, which you seem to enjoy."

Gemini had always wanted to explore the castle during the night, but no one ever cared to join her and she thought it was more boring to do it on her own. She had made Potter go with her on a few expeditions, but they weren't very lucky. As she thought of this a little more, she realized she was probably the reason the Marauders made the map in the first place. Now that they had a guide, they could look at everything.

"Deal."

* * *

Author's Note: I'm a terrible person, I know. Playing with the poor heart and trust Severus Snape has towards his newly found friend. Lovely, don't you think?


	10. Chapter 10

The reason why Severus had sat in her spot the very day she planned on sitting closer to Sirius was unknown to her, yet it still angered her. Soon, she realized that Sirius had occupied the spot that would be right next to hers, which made everything a lot clearer. She rolled her eyes as she set her books down on the table, glancing at Sirius and greeting him with her eyes. He acknowledged her presence with a simple nod, to which Severus responded to by nodding back at the boy.

"I am only sitting here for you own good, Gemini," Severus pulled out his notes, getting ready for the upcoming lecture.

"I know, Severus," Gemini flashed a fake smile at the boy, which went unnoticed, "Thank you for being such a good friend to me."

Severus smiled back, dipping his quill into some ink and writing a title for his notes. Gemini glanced at them and noticed that he had already scribbled something at the very top with his sloppy handwriting.

"Property of the Half-Blood Prince," Gemini read quietly, but Severus heard her and quickly slid his hand over the small words.

Gemini snorted, shaking her head while Severus turned red. It was obviously something he didn't want her to see just yet, so she pretended that it hadn't been that important. Despite her indifferent appearance, Gemini said those words over and over in her head to make sure she called Severus that later, hopefully in front of company. He deserved some form of embarrassment for making her angry, even if he didn't mean to.

By the time she was halfway done constructing a scenario where the title could be used, she felt something hit the back of her head. She turned around, ready to complain, when she realized that she was sitting at the very back and no one was behind her. She glanced at the floor and saw a small plane, which she realized was probably a note. She looked at Sirius, who kept glancing her way in order to make sure she got the note, which she did as soon as she noticed this.

Severus was so interested by the lecture that he was violently taking notes and hadn't noticed a thing. Gemini unfolded the plane looking away from Severus, hoping he didn't see her. The note said: What's Snivellus' problem? Must I get jealous already?

Gemini replied to the note by saying: He's just being a good friend.

The reply began the writing of notes in class. The two wrote to each other back and forth. Most of the conversation had to do with Severus and how he was annoying Sirius to the extreme with his presence, while Gemini tried to justify his reasons although she was pretty annoyed herself. Soon, the notes turned into Sirius flirting, which made Gemini blush before she replied accordingly.

Once Sirius had replied to Gemini's message once more, he sent the plane flying for the last time. Gemini unfolded the plane before it was snatched away by Severus, who quickly read through their conversation. He made faces at the words as Sirius kept whispering to him, telling him to stop sticking his nose in other people's business. Severus didn't listen and continued to read, moving the note further away from Sirius as the boy tried to snatch it.

Gemini was relieved that neither one of them had said anything about their relationship, but was still nervous. Once Severus finished, he gave Gemini the note and acted completely uninterested. Class went by fairly quickly, and Severus didn't ask anything. At least, not until they were eating lunch.

"Is he really so cute that you must interact with him even after he's bullied me for so long?" Severus huffed, crossing his arms and ignoring the presence of the twins. Right now, he was so upset that he didn't care if they heard him.

"That's not it, Severus," Gemini mumbled, "I have to pretend that I like him if I want to get closer to that map."

"And you're going on an actual date with him tonight just because of that map?"

"Wow, you're going on a date with Sirius?" Fabian looked interested, nudging Gideon to make him angry. Gideon was unaffected and was too busy laughing at Severus' distemper to notice.

"Come on, Snape," Gemini whined, "It's not like I'm really dating him. Is it so wrong to pretend to like him for a while?"

Although it hurt her to lie to Severus, she knew it was impossible to get him to listen. Perhaps she'd tell him later on, but not now. She completely understood why he was so furious with her, but she hated being told what to do; she hated being held back.

"It's wrong because I think you're not pretending," Severus shook his head, "You told me that yesterday. Does it really take something as little as a kiss to break down Ms. Gemini Volkov? I didn't think so when I met you. I looked up to you so much because I found you someone so strong; someone that had the authority that I lacked. I wanted to be like you."

The twins listened with their mouths gaping wide open. They were beginning to think that it was probably best if they left, but they were so into what was being said that they decided to stay for a few moments.

"Would you stop talking about the kiss? Are you jealous that Sirius didn't kiss you? Is that why you keep bringing it up and trying to make me feel bad? The girl you like isn't so perfect either," Gemini sneered. She tried so hard to stop herself from talking because she knew she would hurt Severus' feelings if she kept going, but it was nearly impossible when she was enraged; her words just spilled out, "Lily Evans is a stupid goody-goody who does nothing but gossip and try to seem perfect, which she isn't. You only like her because she's kind of hot, so don't try to act all deep and sensitive, which you aren't, since you can't accept the fact that Sirius might actually be likeable on the inside as well. People like you make me sick; expecting to be treated one way when you won't treat others the same."

Severus didn't say a word; he wasn't sure what to say. He felt angry, sad, and sorry all at the same time. Gemini took that as her cue to leave, the twins following close behind. Every single word she had said to Severus stayed with him. No matter how much he tried to forget them, all the words were still there. He shut his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to make them leave, but they didn't leave. He knew they probably never would.

* * *

Severus went through all of his classes as if it had been any other day. Gemini hadn't shown up to their afternoon classes and it wasn't a surprise that Sirius hadn't either. Severus tried to pretend that he hadn't noticed; he pretended that he hadn't met the girl yet. It hadn't been too long ago and it surely wouldn't be difficult to forget.

Or so he thought.

After classes ended, he attempted to walk towards his dorm in peace, but that didn't happen. All he could think about was how he had angered Gemini so much that she had basically broken every rule of any friendship ever. Next, he felt bad because of the impression he had given her of himself, which led her to say many hurtful things. Gemini always told the truth, and that had to mean that she really felt that way.

"I don't think you're at the right place," a voice spoke behind Severus, causing him to turn around quickly. Of course. It had to be Sirius Black. Soon, the sentence made more sense, which caused him to turn back around and realized that he was outside the Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm sorry," Severus mumbled as he walked down the stairs, but he was followed by Sirius.

"Hey, wait up. I need to talk to you, Snivellus."

"I'm really not in the mood to do this now," Severus muttered and began walking faster, "I would appreciate it if you didn't try right now."

"Is it because you made Gemini angry that you're acting his way?" Sirius smirked, which caused Severus to stop. Of course Gemini had told him everything that had happened. He was beginning to think that snatching that map wouldn't be so easy if she kept being so open with Sirius. The real Gemini would agree, but the Gemini that was blinded by Sirius Black didn't quite care and trusted him.

"What did she tell you?" Severus turned around and held his books closer. He was taking a chance at having a decent conversation with the boy simply because he had to hear a little more. He had to make sure she hadn't wanted to stop being friends with him completely.

"What didn't she tell me?" Sirius snorted, walking further away from the Gryffindor Tower. He felt that it was best to act as if their conversation was casual so no one would question him about it later.

"I have no time for this. Would you please just tell me?"

"She told me what happened," Sirius stroked his chin, "She cried out of anger, I comforted her, she then felt sorry for what she had done, then she didn't, then she did, then she didn't…I think she was really confused."

Severus felt sick for a moment before he decided what he was going to do. He was no longer upset at what she had said to him. She was just being honest and needed to let go of everything she was feeling. He felt selfish for only caring about himself when she tried so hard to make him happy.

He took a deep breath and walked back towards the Gryffindor Tower, being chased by Sirius Black again. He sat in front of the door and did nothing, waiting around for someone more trustworthy to show up.

"You again?" the fat lady looked down at Severus, trying to hide her smile but was not successful.

"I'd like to think of us as friends now, since this is the 3rd time you've seen me here," Severus glanced up at the painting before Sirius stomped up the stairs and shook his head at Severus.

"What are you doing?"

"I'd like to wait to tell someone else what I am doing," Severus muttered.

The twins walked up the stairs after a few moments, which Severus considered lucky. Sirius was still trying to figure out what he was doing and refused to go inside until he knew. He honestly preferred to have Gemini to himself and didn't want to have Severus messing up his new [secret] relationship.

"Will you please tell Gemini that I am prepared to sleep out here if she doesn't come out and see me?" Severus looked up at the two boys who nodded quickly. Severus moved down the stairs a bit and gave the gryffindors room to say their password so he wouldn't hear it and go inside.

"Oh, not this again," Sirius rolled his eyes and went inside as well. He knew it was best not to start threatening the boy since Gemini would get angry with him. He just ignored the situation and went to his dorm.

Severus moved back up the stairs and sat outside, waiting for Gemini to come out. He wasn't sure if Gemini would have the heart to let him sleep out there, but he felt that she most likely wouldn't.

"This isn't for Lily this time?" the fat lady asked, awfully interested.

"No," Severus shook his head, "It's for whom I'd like to consider my best friend."

* * *

Author's Note: Gemini can be an angry, mean person. Be warned. R&R 3


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius hugged Gemini so tightly that the breath was knocked out of her lungs. She gasped desperately for air while Sirius squeezed harder, as if he was trying to keep her away from something. She brought her hands up to his hair and pulled it several times before Sirius couldn't take it and finally released her.

"What was that all about?" Gemini wiped her hands on her robe, wincing when she realized that she had accidentally yanked a few hairs from Sirius' head.

"I just want you to know that I really like you and hope that nobody will ever take you away from me," Sirius pouted, making Gemini roll her eyes.

"I'm only keeping you around because of my thirst for adventure," Gemini snickered, petting Sirius' head, "why would you say something like that all of the sudden?"

"Snape says he's prepared to sleep out there if you don't go see him," Fabian vaguely signaled the door, "I think that means you should go see him."

"You don't want to seem more bitter than Lily Evans, now do you?" Gideon laughed, unaware that Lily was standing behind him.

"I'm not bitter; I just have self-respect," Lily rolled her eyes, walking past the group, "Besides, I was not rude enough to let him sit out there forever even if I was a bit mean to him."

"I'm very sure nobody asked you, Lily, but thank you for your input," Gemini faked a smile and went to the door.

Severus was sitting in front of the door, his legs crossed awkwardly because they were much too long. He glanced at the door when he heard it open quietly. He looked up to see Gemini in her pajamas for the first time, which were far more feminine than he expected them to be. She wore a mint green gown that was frilly towards the bottom, which really made her look even smaller.

"I thought you'd make me wait longer," Severus smiled before looking down at his odd legs.

"Was it because I was really angry?" Gemini tilted her head, "Because I still am."

Gemini sat down next to Severus and put her face in her hands, trying to forget what had happened not too long ago. It was sick to think of herself as that kind of person, but she had been so frustrated and there was no other way to release said frustration than to point out every little thing that she thought was wrong with Severus.

"Shouldn't I be the one that's angry after all the things you told me? Do you really think I'm shallow?"

"Don't ask me such things," Gemini pressed her hands on her face harder, trying to hide her embarrassment, "I don't take things back after I say them, Severus. Ever."

"I just want to know the reason behind the way you talked to me earlier," Severus mumbled and untangled his legs, stretching a bit because they were beginning to feel sore.

"It's no big deal…I just feel like you only think about Lily and yourself. It's almost as if you don't care what happens to me after that prat starts liking you. I don't even understand why you are mad at me for liking Sirius. Just because you hate him doesn't mean I have to," Gemini's eyes were beginning to fill with tears, which she wiped away quickly before she raised her head to look at Severus in the eye, "I don't like Lily very much…I'm coming very close to hating her."

Severus looked at Gemini's reddened eyes, puffy from crying that had been done while he was in class. He would have never guessed that she'd be so emotional, especially when it had to do with him. She was always so careless and cheery, even when she didn't have a reason. She didn't trust him to a certain extent, but managed to still care about him more than she should. She reminded him of Lily before she cut-off their friendship.

He quickly shook the thought out of his head, knowing that if it was ever put into words, Gemini would never forgive him. Instead, he moved closer to her and hugged her tightly, knowing she really liked hugging even when she didn't mention it.

"It's not that I don't think about what will become of you," Severus frowned, "I just feel like you and I will still be very close friends if Lily and I do begin to date. I still don't think she will ever like me, despite your efforts."

"You have a chance, I know you do," Gemini mumbled under her breath. She didn't mean to give him false encouragement, but there was a strong feeling inside of her that told her everything would turn out the way he wanted it to. She shifted a little, noticing that Severus was still hugging her, which made her feel a little awkward for a reason she couldn't explain.

"How can you be so sure?" Severus pulled is arm away and pretended not to notice the girl's discomfort.

"Because even I would like you," Gemini chuckled softly, "And it takes a lot to impress me."

She remembered the fact that she had only dated 2 guys so far and they had both been the most popular guys in her house. Although she tried to look down on both, she knew practically every Gryffindor girl fawned over the two, which meant her taste was rather decent.

"What?" Severus seemed rather surprised at the previous statement, looking as uncomfortable as Gemini was when she realized he had been holding her for too long and too tightly.

"If you're going to react that way, then I might as well take it back," Gemini rolled her eyes, pushing Severus away slightly.

"You don't take things back after you say them. Ever," Severus widened his eyes slightly, mocking her.

"Yeah."

* * *

"I want to throw a Halloween party!" Gideon announced, throwing mini-posters around in the middle of the Gryffindor common room.

Gemini was falling asleep on the couch while Sirius stroked her head like he would stroke a cat, making small braids here and there because it was rather tempting to mess with such long hair. The girl raised her head slightly and glanced at the Gideon before letting her head fall back again, curling up into a ball.

"Are you not interested?" Fabian chuckled softly, sitting next to Gemini's half-asleep form, "Gideon thought you'd love the idea."

"Where could the party be thrown? We're having a Halloween feast that night in the Great Hall, then it's off to bed," Gemini groaned, slapping Sirius's hands away as she sat up on the couch.

"Couldn't we throw a party here?" Remus suggested, looking up from the book he was reading.

"Do you really think I'd settle for such a small place?" Gideon snorted, "We can have the party in the Shrieking Shack."

Remus froze momentarily, trying to remember if there would be a full moon on that day. He would have no place to go if his transformation happened during the party, which frightened him. Sirius noticed that Remus had become nervous, which led him to help one of his best friends.

"Isn't that far too far away? We can't leave school grounds. Especially not at night. Not even ghosts will go in, what makes you think your guests want to have a party there?" Sirius seemed to be making too many excuses, which made Gemini raise an eyebrow at him. She'd ask him about it later.

"It's Halloween. The point of such a glorious holiday is to be spooked," Gideon grinned, "I found a secret passageway. I saw Madam Pomfrey coming out of a small opening under the Whomping Willow and decided to check it out the weekend after."

"Although it's rather dusty and gross, I feel that'll add on to the illusion. We also won't need to buy many decorations since the place is creepy enough as it is," Fabian added.

"That actually sounds kind of fun," Gemini smiled, "Would it be a costume party?"

"Of course, I'd like no one to know who the person next to them is. That'll make it more fun," Gideon nodded, "But I'd like to know who you are, since I want you to be my date."

"No can do, she's my girlfriend now, so I'd like her to be my date," Sirius smirked at Gideon, who only crossed his arms.

"I told you they were dating!" Fabian hit Gideon behind the head, "You owe me 10 galleons!"

Gideon rolled his eyes, "I promise I'll give them to you next time we go to Hogsmeade,"

"You better, I didn't like how long you took to pay me back last time," Fabian made a face before he looked back at Gemini, "So, does Snape know you're not his girlfriend anymore?"

"I haven't told him anything and I'm expecting you to not to tell him either," Gemini shook her head, "Anyway, back the party! I can't wait! We must all go buy our costumes before I explode!" She raised her fists in the air, nearly wanting to scream. Gemini really enjoyed parties. Especially costume parties.

"It'll be great, but how's this: don't go with Sirius. Won't it be more fun to find a date at the party? When you don't recognize anybody?" Fabian suggested.

"Oh, come on," Sirius made a face, "What rubbish."

"That actually sounds pretty interesting. Let's do that," Gemini grinned.

"That way, if she chooses you while you're in your costume, simply by talking to you, then that mean she really likes you," Gideon raised his eyebrows in amusement, "And if she chooses someone else, then that'll be another story."

"Brilliant," Sirius agreed.

"Who are you guys inviting?" Lily rubbed her eyes as she walked into the common room.

"Certainly not you, if you plan on telling, since you're Head Girl and all," Gemini sneered, "Although I do know some memory charms that I wouldn't mind using on you."

"I won't tell," Lily shook her head, "I just wanted to know who would go."

"You're invited, if you'd like to go," Fabian smiled at the girl, "And practically everyone in our year is invited. Whether they'd like to go or not isn't my problem."

"Sounds fun," Lily nodded, "James and I would have a great time, I'm sure."

"We're not going in pairs," Gemini shook her head, "You'll meet your date there so it's a lot more fun."

"I guess that would be alright as well," The girl shrugged.

Gemini nodded and sat back. Perhaps that could be Severus's chance of getting her. The party would completely erase the looks and the identity of everyone, which would practically make things better for Severus. All she had to do was talk to him about it and they could get to it. Another thought popped into her mind and that was: the map. Since everyone would probably be going to said party, Gryffindor tower would most likely be empty, which gave her a chance to search for the map.

The party seemed to have more than one advantage.

* * *

Author's Note: I can't wait 'till the party chapter is done. I'm probably more excited than Gemini is. c:


	12. Chapter 12

After excitedly running to Severus to tell him the news and a quick summary of her plan the next morning, Gemini expected to hear an equally exciting response.

"You're nuts if you think I'm going to a party," Severus sneered, writing down some notes in his book. Gemini pulled the book away and shut it, pushing a plate of food in front of the boy. He seemed to always prefer reading over having a meal.

"It's not just a party!" Gemini mused, "It's the party where all your dreams will come true! The dream where you kiss Lily and she loves you forever and you live happily ever after!" Sure, she was exaggerating, but she didn't have to tell him that.

Severus seemed kind of nervous by the idea, so instead, he began eating. Gemini rolled her eyes and ate until it was time to go to class. He couldn't possibly ignore her then. She took Severus' arm and pulled him up, handing him his books.

"We can discuss this further in class," Gemini muttered.

"I refuse. Your plan is as ridiculous as it is stupid," Severus opened up the book he had been writing in before, glaring at Gemini, "You made the ink smear."

"Why are you so moody lately?" Gemini nudged Severus in the stomach, looking up at him.

Severus didn't answer and licked the tip of his index finger, wiping away the smudges that had been made on the page carefully. Gemini was beginning to feel frustrated with him. She felt like he would never stop ignoring him, although she hoped to force him to pay attention while they were in class.

The two of them entered the classroom in silence, Gemini claiming her usual spot while Severus sat next to her. A few more students entered the classroom, one of those students being Lily Evans. She sat in front of Gemini and looked back at Severus in a blank manner, "May I talk to you?"

Severus looked back, but noticed that Lily was definitely talking to him. She tapped the spot next to her, which made Severus immediately pick up his things and move to sit by her side.

"I hope you don't mind me borrowing him," Lily smiled at the girl behind her, "I have something to discuss with him."

"I'm sure you do," Gemini nodded with a bored expression, turning her attention to Sirius, who had just taken Severus' spot.

Severus looked back, but decided to stay out of Gemini's business, for now, at least. Instead, he opened his book once again and began to write some more notes. Although he was extremely excited for what Lily had to say, he didn't want to seem as desperate as he used to look. Gemini taught him that was a no-no.

Class began soon after everyone had settled down. Their transfiguration assignment seemed fairly easy that day, so Gemini decided not to pay attention and instead watched the people in front of her. They didn't seem to be talking very much, but she had been so concentrated on them that she didn't notice that James was sitting on her other side.

"You did it," James drawled quietly as he took a few notes, "You stole my best friend and now you're going for my girlfriend, aren't you?"

Gemini glanced at Sirius, who was falling asleep, which made her smile a little bit. She turned to look at James and shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips.

"I'm sorry your friend likes me so much, James," she sighed as if Sirius liking her presented a problem for her as well, "I'm also sorry I made Severus a threat to you. I'm simply trying to make him happy. Besides, you two aren't even dating."

James rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to say something before he noticed Lily looking around before she whispered to Severus so softly that he couldn't hear what she said.

"I would like to know something," Lily looked around once more before she whispered again, "What's your relationship with Gemini?"

Severus was confused as to why she would care all of the sudden, but decided to answer anyway. He shrugged a little before he whispered back to her.

"I don't see why you are so interested in my personal business all of the sudden, but she is my best friend," Severus was appalled by the way he replied to her, but also quite proud of himself. That was sure to get Lily's attention.

"I didn't know I was so easy to replace."

"I didn't know I was so easy to replace either," Severus glanced at James, who was glaring at him. He frowned and looked at Lily again, who was now taking notes once again. She looked kind of upset at what he had said, which made him regret it. Perhaps he should change what he was doing a little bit.

"I didn't replace you," Severus bit his lip, his sudden words making Lily look at him again. Although she tried to look angry on the outside, her eyes told him that she was kind of happy she hadn't been replaced just yet. He felt almost lost in her bright green eyes, but reminded himself not to get so caught up with their short conversation. She was only curious.

"That's good," Lily looked away quickly, "I was hoping you hadn't, Sev."

Severus was extremely quiet during lunchtime that day. He had been quiet the whole day, actually. It was beginning to worry Gemini, but it made sense. She thought he could be thinking of a plan on his own, but that seemed kind of crazy. Severus was not one to make plans to help his personal life.

Severus removed his robe, folding it in a sloppy manner before he lied down, setting his head on his fake pillow. It looked like something was troubling him deeply, and because Gemini was as nosy as she was, she decided to ask about it.

"What happened to you?" Gemini tilted her head, lying down next to him since his "pillow" was big enough for the two of them. She looked at the sky much like he was doing, but began to feel tired.

The silence seemed to thicken the atmosphere, especially as Gemini waited for an answer. Did Severus not want to tell her, or did he not know was wrong either. Gemini turned her head towards him and closed her eyes, ready to nap for a while, until she felt Severus shift until he was facing her.

"She's so beautiful, Gem," Severus mumbled softly, "Whatever she has to say to me makes me happy. I feel as if I'm currently dreaming, and I'll wake up to Lily completely ignoring me again."

Gemini wasn't sure whether to feel happy for her friend or to feel sorry for him. Although he seemed quite content with what had happened, he made her feel bad because of his reaction. He was completely love struck and it was as cute as it was sickening.

"So would you like to go on with the plan?" Gemini smiled. Severus nodded quickly and pulled his hair behind his ear, showing that he was listening.

"Lily will be going to Gideon's party. This is a costume party, as I mentioned earlier, so everyone will be in disguise. Lily says she'll wear a long black wig, probably bushy, but I can't just assume. I heard her telling Fabian about it. I don't know the details," Gemini shrugged, "But anyway, all you have to do is dress up mysterious looking. Make sure to cover yourself up and any hints that may make it look like it's you. I won't be there early, so I can't help you. I also have some business to take care of."

"What? What will you be doing?" Severus raised his head slightly, feeling nervous about the plan all over.

"I'm going to get the map. It's obvious that James keeps it with his things, but since he will be at the party, I'll have plenty of time to look for it. I'll go to the party after I'm done," Gemini grinned.

"What will you be wearing?"

"It's a secret. I really don't want to slow you down, so just focus on finding Lily and making her love you by the end of the night."

She was more excited than anyone could imagine. She would get the map just before Christmas break, which would help her plan her escape from the castle in order to find her precious waterfall. She wondered what she would find when she got there, and if Dumbledore had been exaggerating on the danger that was to come.

"Are you trying to make someone fall in love with you during this party as well?" Gemini's thoughts were interrupted by Severus talking to her. She looked at his face, and how upset he seemed.

"I'm trying to see if I can fall in love with Sirius even when I can't tell it's him," Gemini shrugged, "If he can recognize me and make me fall in love with him by the end of the party, then I'll be much happier. Gideon is giving it a shot too."

"Perfect little Gemini wondering who can win her heart," Severus laughed a little, "It's hard to imagine."

"And why is that?"

"You don't seem like the type who would let boys fight over you."

"They're not fighting over me," Gemini pushed Severus away a little, "I just want to see if liking Sirius is the right thing, I guess." She wouldn't mention she was dating him yet. Perhaps she would tell him after the party.

"What if you don't pick Sirius or Gideon?" Severus shrugged.

"I guess I'll meet someone I like better."

* * *

Author's Note: I had to get this out kind of quick, so it may have some mistakes. Hopefully, it doesn't have too many. Also, it's a short chapter. :\ Sorry, the next will be longer! Let me know what you think!


	13. Chapter 13

Her outfit arrived by owl on the morning of the party, along with a letter her parents had written her. She had asked them to send her a costume she got on sale but never had the chance to wear. Now would be completely perfect, considering she wanted to avoid being recognized.

She ditched her generally adorable clothing, filled with shades of lavender and pastels, deciding to go with a color that would match the theme much better. She thought she looked like a female Severus, but he would probably wear something a little less provocative. Not that Gemini's outfit was that bad to begin with, but Severus generally covered every inch of his skin. She wondered if he would wear short sleeves for a change.

"I shouldn't be worrying about that," Gemini snorted, pulling out the costume from the box and laying it on her bed. It was black strapless shirt with a puffy, black tulle skirt. It almost looked like a regular dress, and it could work if the rest of the accessories weren't added to it. It came with a mask for her eyes, ridiculously long socks, a wand and wings. It was a fairy outfit from a muggle store. She got it from her hometown the last time she visited; surely no one would be dressed the same.

"You're wearing muggle costume?" Lily asked, looking down at the outfit before picking up the sickening representation of a wand, touching the sparkly star at the top. Gemini snatched it away and placed it back in the box.

"You're not supposed to see it before the party."

Lily shook her head and turned around, fixing her own costume up before putting it away. Gemini inspected the room and realized many girls were fixing their things as well. She couldn't believe Gideon got the word out so quickly, but he was rather friendly so she assumed everyone would hear about it anyway.

That would definitely make it easier for her to get the map. She directed her eyes to the door, wondering how long it would take everyone to get out so she could get on with her mission. There hadn't been any real excitement in her life for a while, and so she couldn't help but long to feel the rush of something new entering her memories.

She could already taste it. Gemini stuck her hand under her pillow to feel the coin-like stone that was under it. Just feeling it made her stomach feel nervous. Soon, she would know the source of it. Or at least, she'd have the plan ready.

Everything would be different.

That was guaranteed.

* * *

The party was to come in a few hours, and Severus could not be less excited for it. He didn't have a costume yet, he didn't know how he would find Lily and he definitely didn't know how he would get her to like him at all.

Gemini had told him many things and had taught him to be more confident, but that wasn't enough to make Lily Evans look at him the way he wanted her to. They had always been friends, and even if he could get her to talk to him again, like he had done not too long ago, that did not mean that she'd even think about kissing him.

"This is hopeless," Severus buried his face in his hands, much like he had done on the night that Lily cut off their friendship for good.

A few steps approached Severus while he sat on his bed, these steps suddenly stopping before the tall boy felt pressure on his bed causing the mattress to droop a little, "What's hopeless, Sev?"

Severus raised his head and found Avery on his right and Mulciber on his left. His friends were always there for him, even if he thought they could become a burden, just like when they sometimes took advantage of him. In his opinion, Slytherin was a house full of weird friendships.

"I'm going to Gideon's party later in order to win Lily over…" He said quietly. Sure, they weren't his best choice, but he had to tell someone, considering Gemini was too busy with her own affairs to even think about helping him some more.

Mulciber gagged, wrinkling his nose, "You're not still all over that mudblood, are you? I thought you'd found the other girl to be your girlfriend."

"I've already told you I'm not trying to seduce her," Severus rolled his eyes, "I'm very serious about Lily. You two should know this already."

"I still don't see why you like her. She's not all that great and she's dirty," Avery pouted, "I think you'd look better with your little friend, considering she's at least a half-blood. Like you!"

"Stop," Severus hissed, "Just help me get ready for this party. I need to look like a different person."

"That'll be hard, considering you're rather tall," Mulciber shook his head.

"I think he's average; he just has long legs."

"Just help me out, please!" Severus pouted.

Mulciber stood up from Severus' bed and went to his trunk. He began pulling out several garments and tossing them on the bed before he got to particular outfit. He practically threw it at Severus, but smirked when the boy caught it in his hands before it got to his face.

"Although it's not a costume, I believe this is close enough. All you have to do is look different, right? Why don't you dress up as me?"

"That's ridiculous, Lily hates you," Severus shook his head, inspecting the outfit. He hadn't seen Mulciber wear it before, so it might work, but he really needed something to completely hide his face. And his hair. And the shape of his nose.

"Just throw a robe over it and you'll still look different. However, you might want to try another color. No Slytherin colors. Also, no black, please," Mulciber snorted, "Unless you long to be recognized."

"I suppose that's fine."

Severus stood up and flattened the outfit on his bed. It was a simple, white dress shirt and black pants. He didn't understand why Mulciber owned such an outfit, considering he didn't look like he would ever dress so plainly, but he didn't question it.

"How about you dress like a pirate?" Avery grinned, making a hook with his fingers.

"That's not a bad idea," Mulciber agreed, "You could hide your face and hair with that. Just wear a mask, a hat, and a bandana. Cover your whole face with it! This outfit is actually coming together."

"Although that sounds stupid, it could work. I can get those things later," Severus wrinkled his nose, "But why are you two helping me? You hate Lily."

"Because you're serious about her," Mulciber smirked.

"Or because he really just needs you to help him with his potions homework," Avery snorted.

* * *

As hours passed by, Gemini watched slowly as girls began preparing themselves for Gideon's party. Most of them decided wearing cute clothes with their faces painted would be a good enough costume, while others went all out and dressed as characters from the wizarding world. She saw one Dumbledore, which she found rather hilarious, but most of the girls tried to dress good enough to impress.

Gemini thought it was best to take her time, that way no one would find it odd that she took so long to leave the Gryffindor tower. Most girls took rather long, anyway, specially Lily and her friend Mary. The two had been getting ready for hours, which made Gemini kind of nervous considering they would be some of the last people out.

"Aren't you getting ready?" Molly poked Gemini's shoulder. Gemini turned to look at her best friend, who was now dressed up with clothes she couldn't quite describe. She wondered if she was trying to look like a pumpkin, or something along those lines.

There were not that many people around anymore, which made Gemini smile a little at Molly, "I'll be there in a bit. Go enjoy yourself. Your brothers are probably waiting for you."

Molly smiled back at her friend, knowing she was probably nervous about attending the party. The pumpkin-looking girl hopped out the door excitedly. There were only two other people left, and Gemini had definitely been right about who they would be. She decided to ignore them and get on with what she was to do.

She simply put on her costume, along with the mask and a few accessories. She didn't feel like she looked different enough, so she did something she never thought she would do. She pulled her hair up and put it into a neat bun. No one would recognize her; she had not picked up her hair in all her years at Hogwarts. To finish off her look, she added dark lipstick and powdered her face to keep it from looking as white as it usually did.

She didn't think getting ready would be so easy, and although she still considered herself slightly recognizable, she felt that was good enough anyway.

By the time she was done, the giggling Gryffindors had left, making her the only one in the girls' dormitory. She wasn't sure if that was the same for the boys' dormitory, but she had to check.

She quickly snuck around the common room, but found that it was empty as well. If the boys' dormitory was empty, all would be perfect.

"What luck," She smiled to herself, finding that the room was empty. It wasn't hard to spot James' bed. It was the one cluttered with clothes she'd seen him wear before. His trunk was also wide open. That boy sure was a mess.

She stuck her hands in and was bitten by something she didn't want to see. It was obvious she'd have a scar later, but she didn't worry too much about that. All she had to do was get the stupid map before someone tried to look for her.

She found a few old stories she wrote for him to read, which she stuffed into her robe pockets without a second thought. She also found love letters he had written for Lily, but hadn't delivered, along with plans she didn't have time to read about. She searched and searched the trunk, but nothing was there.

"Perhaps it's not in the trunk," she bit her lip, looking it over, "But outside of it..." She glanced at the bottom of the trunk before she attempted to lift it. It was too heavy to lift, so she pulled out some of the heavier boxes inside before she actually managed to lift it. There it was, what she had been looking for.

She stuffed it in the inside of the robe before quickly placing the boxes back into the trunk. Although her curiosity nearly got her to look into the boxes, she felt it was probably better to stick with the plan and not get sidetracked. She would be dead if—

"What are you doing?"

_James. _

She froze for a moment, wondering if he noticed who she was, but then realized she looked different. Even so, she couldn't allow him to see her because she'd be wearing the same outfit all night.

"Stu—" Potter's voice began, the sensation of a wand being raised making Gemini react as quickly as she could.

"Expelliarmus!" Gemini said in a faux deep voice before she swung her wand around quickly, running past James as fast as she could.

"Expelliarmus? what was I thinking?" the girl huffed under her breath. She was going to have a long night.

* * *

Author's Note: Hello, readers! I am sorry for not updating in a long time. I was really busy writing my new fic, which you should really check out "You're Killing Me" if you like this one. It's a Fred/OC fic which begins during the Order of the Phoenix. I'll get more details into the author's note on the actual fic.

Also, about this fic, it's finally party time! The next chapter will begin in Snape's point of view, so look forward to that. Thanks for reading. c:


	14. Chapter 14

An old record player filled the bottom floor of the Shrieking Shack with music. Annoying music, in Severus' point of view. There were far too many students at the party: so many that the top floor was filled with dancing students, along with the stairs and the outside of the narrow house.

There was certainly a festive mood at the ridiculous party, a mood he had never felt before. He did not feel like dancing or eating the food that lined the snack tables along the walls of what was supposed to be the dance floor.

The floor boards of the house squeaked rather often, but no one seemed to notice this. They were all too excited by being at an actual party at a forbidden hour to care if the house was about to fall over them.

He recognized few faces, although he wasn't supposed to, but some just made it far too obvious. Sirius Black was one of those people that only wore a suit and painted a beard on himself to seem different. Others were so hard to recognize that Severus wondered if they even went to school with him.

One of those people had to be Lily.

He hadn't seen anyone that even looked a little like her, but he was sure she was at the party. He tried to stand around groups of girls, but Lily's voice didn't sprout from any conversation. Her skin was nowhere to be seen and her eyes were probably shut since he hadn't seen the green he so desperately craved.

Frustration was getting to him. Gemini hadn't been helpful at all during this party, which was probably one of the only chances he had of enamoring his childhood friend. Although he understood that Gemini had her own problems, she had promised to help, but didn't keep said promise.

"Who needs her, anyway…" Severus muttered to himself, pushing past the crowds of people.

He was suddenly shoved by a screaming boy who seemed to be searching the crowds just as desperately as he had been doing, except this boy was shouted "I'll kill her! I'll more than kill her!" with every step he took.

Ah, the distinct voice of James Potter filled his ears.

And that her just had to be Gemini.

Which, Severus now noticed, he hadn't seen at all either. He usually noticed her easily because her height was so strikingly short, but everyone seemed rather tall at the party. Perhaps she hadn't shown up at all.

_"Focus!" _he thought to himself, pushing past more people. He continued looking for the green eyes for a moment before he realized the door was open. He knew there were people outside, but hadn't checked if Lily was out there.

"Snape! Have you seen Gem?" Gideon, who was wearing a laughable crown on his head, nudged Severus in the ribs, causing the hat to fall from the younger boy's head.

"No, have you seen Lily?" Severus held on to the hat, but pulled the hood of his robe over his head in order to look less stupid.

Gideon nodded his head, pointing out the door, "Last time I saw her, she was outside. She's wearing a muggle dress! You can't miss her."

Severus thanked the host before he walked outside, pulling his robe closer. It was very windy outside, so the only people outside were huddled together, dancing to music that came from inside. The tall boy sneered, not feeling the need to get too close to any of those people. He liked his space.

He walked around the house, looking for Gideon's description of Lily until he noticed a girl sitting on the grass, her back pressed to the house. Her skirt was sticking out from the bottom of her robe, but her hood was over her head. She was visibly freezing, her teeth clattering as she pulled her knees closer to her chest.

"Lily?" Severus whispered to himself, clearing his throat a little in order to disguise his voice. If she really was Lily, it was probably best to make his voice unrecognizable. He deepened attempted to deepen his voice a little, and as hilarious as he sounded, it would help him.

"If you're cold, I suggest you go inside," Severus said as he sat down next to the girl. She glanced at him briefly before turning away, her teeth clattering a little less.

"I'm fine here, thank you," a raspy voice replied. The girl chuckled softly, clearing her own throat, "I've been out here for too long, I suppose."

"You sound sick. I could walk you back to your common room if you want…which is…?" Severus blushed, noticing he was being way too forward trying to figure out who this was.

"In Gryffindor Tower. And I said I'm fine here, THANK YOU," she emphasized the end of her sentence, clearly annoyed.

For someone who had the possibility of being Lily, she was a little temperamental. Then again, Lily did have a habit of taking things the wrong way, so he couldn't let himself be swayed away by the act. Instead, he continued to pursue her.

"Gryffindor, the house of the brave," he chuckled softly, trying to hide his choke after saying that, "I can assume you're someone with great character."

"Your assumption is incorrect, actually."

Severus found himself unable to reply, which happened often when he talked Lily. Although he wasn't sure, he could assume it was her for now. She was wearing a muggle dress, but her hair was hidden from sight, which made it hard to tell if her hair was what Gemini described initially.

Whether it was Lily or not, the girl next to him sounded fairly annoyed. He partially blamed himself for her annoyance, but something told him she was already feeling unstable when he came over to her in the first place.

"Is there a reason why you're hiding out here?"

"Is there a reason why I shouldn't be hiding out here?" she said defensively. It was clear that she was looking at him now, but neither one of them could see each other's face. She could probably see the bandana that was hanging on his face, but he was still undistinguishable. Perfect.

"I'm serious."

"Oh, are you?" she chuckled faintly, "I guess I can say that I'm not exactly in the best situation right now."

Severus smiled, happy to finally get a real response out of her. He turned his body to face her completely, and although he couldn't see her, it was nice to at least know he was talking to Lily…or someone oddly similar to her, but most likely, Lily.

"What's the problem?" the boy said, genuinely concerned. If the girl was Lily, at least. He felt extremely attached to this girl, even if he couldn't see her face. That meant it was Lily. Right?

"I'm just confused…and I guess disappointed in myself," her voice seemed to getting rougher as she spoke, "You see, I hate seeing myself as a prize, but I seem to being so lately. Do you get me?"

She was talking so vaguely that Severus couldn't understand, but he nodded, encouraging her to go on.

She nodded to herself as she cupped her hands together and blew a few breaths on them to heat them up; the muggle way of warming hands, the way Lily did most things. She cleared her throat once again before she continued, speaking softer than she had initially, "Well, I just wish I could go back to being myself, but it seems practically impossible. I feel like I'll disappoint a lot of people."

"But if you don't go back to being the way you used to be, you'll disappoint yourself, " Severus reasoned, smiling at the way Lily seemed to care for others more than herself. He always admired that about her, even if he couldn't do so himself.

"I guess so…" she mumbled, looking down at the ground.

The two stayed quiet for what felt like hours, but it was only a few minutes. That is, until she felt like opening her mouth again.

"And you? What are you out here for…talking to me…?" the girl seemed confident at first, but she soon sounded suspicious.

Severus didn't know how to answer initially, scared that he would give away who he was if he responded like he usually did. There was no way to sound casual, so he thought he'd tell her the truth…indirectly, of course.

"I wanted to have a nice conversation with someone," Severus shrugged, "you caught my attention, I guess."

"I see…" she still sounded suspicious, but her voice didn't match what she did, "I guess you win…"

She shrugged, taking the Severus' bandana from his face in one quick movement, and in another, she was kissing him. He was caught off-guard, which made him freeze instead of actually kissing her back. He then realized what she was doing, but he had no idea what to do next. He simply waited.

His heart was beating quickly, not from his own emotions, but for the surprise. The cold air seemed to be flowing faster around them, making him want to run inside, but he couldn't move. He soon felt the lack of warmth from his lips and saw the girl pull away, gasping from what he thought was shock.

That couldn't be…

"Lily?"

The girl hesitated for a moment before she answered.

"Snape?"

* * *

Author's Note: Short chapter, but a little change happens here- um. Yeah. Enjoy and feed me with reviews! Also, check out my other stories if you're bored. :)


End file.
